


Finding the Final Path to Avalon's Code

by jjj9t20 (holdinglines)



Category: Avalon Code
Genre: Gen, Novelization
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 14:51:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10766493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holdinglines/pseuds/jjj9t20
Summary: A recount of the epic of Avalon Code.Originally posted on FF.net in 2011.  Please read Rewrite instead.





	1. Nightmares will hold the Future

  The dreams were stronger now.  The voice, that voice that continued to come to her...

  It was her own voice that called to her, she realized.  The things the Voice told her of were things no child should know.  Why she continued to come to Sunny Hill, where the voices and visions were so much stronger she couldn’t say for certain.  What she _did_ know for certain was what would happen if she told her dreams to anyone.

   It was funny; when the dreams started to come she was terrified of everything: sleep, shadows, friends, _fire_.  Great Gods above and below, the _fire_ was what terrified her most of all.  As time wore on, however, her curiosity got the better of her and she began going more often up to Sunny Hill, wishing to know the source of these dreams and to understand their meaning.

_The end of life as we know it is here_.

  It was happening.  Tia had heard the beginning of the dream for so long now she could say It along with the voice.

_For Man has strayed from the path_

_I shall incinerate them with the earth_

_and from their ashes–_

  _“–a new world shall be born.”_ Tia finished for the Voice.  She had never had the courage to speak during the dreams, least of all while the Voice was speaking.  She was unsure just how the Voice would react to this sort of interruption.  But the Voice continued on, as if it were nothing new or different.   She listened.

_Let us bind a deal between us_

_for you shall attain my heart’s true desire._

_“Me?  Are you sure?”_

_Yes.  Do not fear, for you will not be alone in this quest._

_“But, I am nothing but a child!  How can I achieve all this greatness for you?  How will I–”_

_Now, reach out your arms to me!_

_And receive me._ The voice grew gentler now, almost warm.

_Know the truth and record it_

_For it shall fill the coming world._

_As long as corruption exists..._

_the flame of destruction will come._

_“Until we attain true enlightenment.”_ Tia said along with the Voice.  The Voice seemed to give off heat again.  Was this a way to show it was pleased?

 

  This was the end.  The dream was over.  It had been much more vivid this time.  Heat across her skin, color all around, visions of things to come... and the Voice itself!  Never before had it felt more real to her than now; It had spoken as clearly as a whisper to her ear.  She could not marvel in it long, for now she had to decipher its meaning.  The visions always began with things burning, burning...and people dying.  But this time something rose out of the ashes, a book, and it was flying to the high heavens.  But something else had happened too, but what was it?   Had something, or some _one_ rise with the book?

_No, not yet pet.  Think: what does every book need?  Something small, something **important**..._

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

 

  A bookmark!

  That’s what it was, a bookmark.  And it flew out of the Book (she couldn’t say why, but the book felt like it had some name to it, some name that was forgotten upon waking up) towards... _something_.  It had been in her hand, but then the images swept her up to see that Book, _flying_ of all things, it falling into a dark hole, its pages soaring across the countryside.  They were all calming, nostalgic scenes, but she couldn’t fathom what the connection between the book and her were.

  Finally she opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them.  What was that she saw, floating lazily towards her?  The very same bookmark that was in her dreams!

  She reached out her hand and caught it.  No, it _landed_ in her hand.  Slowly she got up and stared at the sky where it had come from.

  “Did you travel all that way for me?”  She asked the bookmark.  She smiled at it, not knowing why she felt like crying all of a sudden.  She felt as if she were reunited with a long ago friend that she never thought to see again.

_Tia..._

 

  Tia turned around and stared up at the Monolith.  For as long as anyone could remember it had been there, watching over Rhoan like the old True God but never before had she heard of it speaking.  Stranger still, she was almost certain that it was the Voice from her dreams; her _own_ voice.

  As if it were waking up after a long nap, the Monolith seemed to stretch its own power, glowing to the point that Tia had to turn her eyes away from its radiance.

 

***

  Far northeast of the Grana Plains and the soon-to-be hero, things were not well.  The Waisen Empire, eternal enemy of her home country of Kaleila, was on the march out of the mountain passes in a scouting mission to find the ideal ambush to begin an upcoming war; but they could not see her.  The Monolith had shielded her from their gaze.

  But there were some in the scouting group who could see that their prey was just beyond the sight of man.  And they followed the smell of the Book of Prophecy.

***

 

  When Tia could no longer feel the heat of the light from the Monolith, she dared to look upon it again, and found herself trembling in fear at the sight before her.  The Monolith continued to radiate with light and power, all of which was focused on one particular spot in front of her; of that small section of light came out a book.  The Book in her dreams was now just out of arms reach, with unkind eyes protruding out of its cover and giving her a critical overlook.

  Strangely enough, she felt no fear.  This Book was her guide, and when it finally was in her hands she saw her own face within it.  Her data was the first thing to be recorded for the new world.

_‘A new world?’_

  “ **Yes, I can smell it on you!** ” Tia turned around and screamed.  A knight of the Waisen Empire, slayer of babes and rapists of loyal wives, they were what all children were told to fear.  “ **You have it.  The Book of Prophecy!  Just as he predicted, it has finally arrived.”** The knight gave a horrible laugh, a mixture of a bark and bull’s cry.

Tia stared at the man terrified.  What Book of Prophecy?  She stared down at the Book in her hands.  Was that what she held had been dreaming of all this time?  But how could anyone know about it, let alone a knight to her kingdom’s oldest enemy?  She began to back away from the abomination. 

  “ **Not so fast!”** the knight drew his massive battle axe and pointed its blade at her.  “ **Hand over the Book of Prophecy _now_!  Do so and I may spare your life.”**

Tia shook her head.  What else could she do?  She silently cursed herself for skipping so many of Master Gustav’s lectures.

  The knight shrugged as if her refusal was of no importance.  “ **Fool.  I’ll just pry it from your dead fingers then!”**   The knight bent over and his from his spine came a grotesque crunching noise, and as his armor split in two he revealed himself not to be a Waisen Knight, but something much worse.  He was instead a half-bull, half-man creature, twice as large as she and just as wide, with burning red eyes and long yellow teeth.

  He gave a mighty roar and began to advance towards her with each step back she took.  Eventually she found herself with her back against the Monolith and no way to escape.

  Please, she prayed.  Please someone, _anyone_ , save me from this monster.

_How about instead, you save yourself?  Are you not adept enough with a sword to fight?  Alas, you have a way to go before then, don’t you pet?_

  Once the beast was close enough to slash her in two with its mighty axe, a wall of flames surrounded Tia and were then shot straight into the face of the beast!

  “Not so fast!” a boy’s voice shouted.  Tia stared as the monster cried out in pain and fury, trying in vain to reach his face and put out the flames.  The fire appeared to pull itself away from the beast and formed into a small compact ball of fire until finally exploding and revealing the strangest looking boy Tia had ever seen in her life.  The boy continued to spin even after the fire died away and no sooner had he opened his eyes did he do loop-de-loops through the air, shouting ‘Woo-hoo!’ as he did so.

  The boy flew right next to Tia laughing and said to her, “Feels good to be out at last!  Nice ta meet ya, you new ‘round here?”

  The monster snorted and glared at him.  “ **Who’re you?!** ”

  “The name’s Rempo, the fire guardian Spirit!  ,” the boy smirked.  “And as for _you,_ you’re not laying a finger on the Book of Prophecy!!”

  “Fire guardian?” Tia asked dumbly.  Things were moving too fast, and she had barely a moment to understand what was happening.

  “ **Hm, a spirit?  What could _you_ possibly do to me?** ”  The beast said with contempt.  Tia scowled; the beast was more confident now that he wasn’t set on fire.

  “No, not me, the kid here!” the boy called Rempo said waving at Tia.

  “ _What?_ ” Tia looked at him.

  “C’mon,” he encouraged.  “Let’s you and me go deal with this goon right now!”  He seemed to finally register the look on her face.  “Face it, the Book of Prophecy will make it easy!  Let’s do this!”

  “ **You mock _me?_** ” the monster roared.  Why was he glaring at Tia when it was the boy who said all that?  “ **How dare you!** ”

  “Hurry!  Go on, take out your sword!”

  Tia looked frantically around the ground.  No sword had appeared with Rempo.  She looked at him and asked in a slight panic, “What sword?”

  He groaned.  “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to use the Book!” Tia looked at him stricken.  How was it her fault she didn’t understand all this?  It had all stayed in her dreams up until now!

  For some reason this didn’t phase Rempo much.  “Well, I guess I can’t blame you.  Seems like it’s all up to me.  The Great Rempo will have to teach you how to fight!”

  He gestured to the Book and she opened up one of its pages.  A magnificent sword was painted on the page.  “That sword’s the last of the Book’s power.  Perfect for using as practice.  Just pull it out of the page and it’ll appear!”

  It didn’t sound as easy as it really was apparently.  And one came out for each hand too!  She turned towards the monster.  Time for that bully to learn a lesson in humility.  Tia had always been good at dodging and speed, but this creature was all about power and full throttle attacks.  She realized it was no different than the street fights in Rhoan, only bigger and uglier opponents.

  Still, she couldn’t help but feel like it had been a little _too_ easy.

  With a final cut right about his temple finally took him down.  Rempo, who had vanished during the battle finally reappeared.  “All right!  You did it!”

  Well, at least he didn’t insist on taking credit of the victory.  Tia felt a vibration in her hands, and when she looked down she noticed that the beautiful sword that helped save her life was now replaced with two rusted sword.

  She looked up at Rempo for guidance, but he seemed just as surprised.  “Huh?  It looks like your sword lost all of its power in the fight.”  Although he seemed saddened by this, he perked up quickly.  “Oh well!  We’ll just have to get it back later.  Hm?  What is it?”

  “Please sir,” Tia began cautiously.  “Tell me: who are you? _What_ are you?  I’m afraid I didn’t catch much of it just now.”  Better to be polite to the boy who was born of the flames than to be rude to him.

  “Oh, that!” he grinned at her.  “I’m Rempo.  One of the Great Spirits that is written in the Book of Prophecy.  I’m a mighty Fire Spirit that can incinerate anything!”

  Tia felt the blood drain from her face; to incinerate the earth, wasn’t that what the Voice warned her of?  Tia looked at the boy more closely now.  Although at a glance he could’ve been as young as her age, but the joy he took from the battle, his overconfidence in his own abilities, and what he told her made her doubt he could be older than fourteen.  She also noted the large chains and strange metal contraptions binding his arms, and holding him down to this earth.  How could such heavy-looking things weigh him down, yet when he flew it was as if the wind itself could topple him over?

  Rempo shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.  “Enjoying the view?”

  Tia jumped, just now realizing how rude she was by staring.  “Ah, I’m sorry!  Please forgive me.  I was just wondering about your… about your...” she was at a loss for words.

  “About the shackles?” he grinned at her again as he lifted one of his arms up easily.  “Think there’s somethin’ weird ‘bout it?  Nah, these are just the shackles ta bind me ta the Book.  Without these, I could _really_ do some damage!”

  He said it like it was a tragedy –and it no doubt was– but Tia could not get the thought of the world burning out of her head.  Still, something inside of her told her that this boy was not here to destroy, but she couldn’t say what he was here for if not for that.

  “Oh, well,” he shrugged and lowered his arm.  “Guess there’s no point in talkin’ ‘bout it.  But just trust me!  I’m the baddest thing out there!”

  Tia couldn’t help herself but to giggle a little at that and smile.  He was a boy for sure, and that was comforting to know.  “You do look like you could do serious damage sir, I’ll give you that.  Hopefully I’ll never make you mad enough to inflict that damage towards _me_.”

  Rempo’s grin grew wider and laughed.  “You sure are honest, kid.  Oh!  By the way, I can’t keep calling you ‘kid’.  What’s your name, anyway?”

  “My name?  It is...Tia.  My name is Tia.”

  Rempo looked like he had something else to say, but stopped.  He listened.  Tia heard it too.  Metal on grass, the gait of a soldier, Tia knew the sound all too well.  But his uniform was a different one.

  His uniform was that of a Waisen soldier.

  “Aw man, now what?  Another opponent?  Let’s do it!  C’mon Tia, take out your sword!”

  Tia stared at the soldier, he hadn’t seen them yet, and she had a feeling in her gut that she wouldn’t be as lucky against him as she was against the monster.  But still she drew her sword, hoping that Rempo would know what to do if the worst came to show.

  “Whoa, wait.” He flew closer and frowned.  “That one’s Human… let’s beat it; this’ll get messy too soon!”

  Tia couldn’t agree more.  She turned and fled to the only place she knew she would be safe no matter what.

  They escaped to Rhoan.

 

***

  General Heath Blackburn examined the armor.  No doubt about it, it had belonged to one of their knights, probably one of the two deserters, but he could not come up with a single solution as to why a knight of the Prince’s inner circle would dispose of their armor and flee like a freelancer would.  His brow furrowed in concentration as he turned it over again to examine the large tear down the middle of the armor.  How could this happen?  Who would desert their sacred mission, right in the middle of enemy territory?  More importantly, _why_?

  “General Blackburn!” Heath didn’t so much as glance at the scout he had sent ahead.  Even without seeing him, he knew he had found something.  Those of Waisen blood were not known to disappoint.

  “Speak.” he said.

  “The tracks point towards the Southwest.  Shall we follow, General Blackburn?”  There was no small hint of eagerness in his voice, eager to shed some Kaleilan hounds blood.

  Heath finally turned his head and looked up at the scout.  Even without standing, the general knew how to strike fear into a man’s heart.

  “Have you forgotten?” he asked with a flat tone.

  “Sir?” the scout fidgeted.

  “We cannot, _will not_ , tread any farther into enemy grounds.  I shall personally check on the border patrol and their troops.  Report all this to the Prince.  Understood?”

  “Yes, sir!”  The man stood up a little straighter as he gave his Commanding Officer a final salute before returning to the mountains, where the pathway known only to the Waisen Empire and the mountain men was hidden

  Heath sighed and looked back to the armor enigma.  Turning it around in his hands, he could offer no solution to it.  All it could do instead was further his belief that something was terribly wrong.

 


	2. Chapter 2

  Tia wasn’t sure just how long she had been running, but by the time Rempo had told her that he thought that they had stopped following them she was exhausted.  She wandered to the nearest rock jutting out of the ground and sat down.  Now that she was sitting down and could catch her breath, she could get a good look at her surroundings.  They were still in the Grana Plains, and they still had a ways to go before reaching back home, but this had been her personal playground for as long as she could remember; even now, she could tell exactly where they needed to go, just by looking for the usual landmarks.

  The first one they were resting in the shade of: a very large, very old, half-buried tower and a bit of its crumbling wall.

  Tia looked up at the Fire Spirit.  What had he said his name was?  Rempo.  Yes, his name was Rempo.  Baddest of them all.  She then looked down now at the book in her hands.  Was this really a book of Prophecy?  Was it so important that Monsters in the guise of enemy knights had to come and steal it?  So many things were trying to come together in her mind, but she began to think that she was doing a different puzzle altogether.

  “Tia?  Listen.”

 Tia looked back up at Rempo.

  “Tia, I know this is going to come off as a shock, but please, leave all crying, wailing, and all that other stuff behind right now.  I really hated that when some of the others did that.”

  Others?

  “Tia,” he continued.   “The Book of Prophecy chose you.  And the moment you touched it, your fate changed completely.  Everything that happens now... will be the stuff of legends.” the way he said it, it was so full of hope and excitement, Tia found it hard not to join him in that excitement.  She stood up.

  “So...am I crazy?  Is this all really happening?” she couldn’t help herself but ask.  But did it really matter, the opinion of something she might be making up?

  “Oh please!  Crazy?  Forget that stupid idea!” He stared at her then flew in closer as if to get a better look.  “Why are you still so shocked?  This is awesome!”

  He sighed.  “Oh, well.  You’ll understand someday.”

  “Well,” Tia said carefully.  “At least I’m not crying or sniffling.”

  He grinned at that.  “Thankfully.” his smile fell again as if something very said crossed his mind.  “Tia, this world will soon be destroyed.  That’s why the Book appeared.  This world will go, and a new one will be born.  It’s the order of things!”

  “How many times has that happened?”

  “Don’t interrupt!”

  “Sorry.”

  Rempo took a deep breath as if it took great effort to control himself.  “But before this world is gone, it is your duty to record in the Book of Prophecy things worthy of the new world!  See?  It’s easy!  Whenever you go to a new place, the Book will automatically record its information!  But now for the important stuff.”

  ‘There’s more?’ Tia thought it, but after her last interruption she doubted a second one would be wise.

  “When you find something valuable, you have to Code Scan it.”

  “What’s that?” she blurted out.  She couldn’t help it.  It was all going too fast.

  Rempo grin returned, along with a mischievous glint in his eye.  Apparently this was an anticipated question.  “That’s when you smack something with the Book!”

  “Brilliant.”

  “No, no!”  Rempo said trying to correct himself.  “I mean, it’s more like...ugh, how am I supposed to explain this?”  He looked around for a moment before locking his eyes on something behind her.  “There!  Try Code Scanning those flowers over there.”

  “But _how_ do I do that?” Tia asked exasperated.

  “I’ll tell you once you actually start moving towards it!”

  Sighing, she walked toward the patch of flowers.  She had always known they were there whenever she went to Sunny Hill, but she had never actually paused to look at them.  They were actually quite pretty and reminded her of tiny likes of flames in the hearth back home.

  “Now, use the Book and...” But he didn’t need to carry on.  Tia touched one of the flowers petals and one could almost see the swirl of colours as they went from the tips of her fingers to the empty pages of the Book.  On the page the colours landed on appeared a picture of the flower.

  Tia looked at Rempo, expecting to hear some remark of gratitude she understood it so well.  Instead he seemed to be almost stunned, but the moment passed rather quickly once he started talking again.

  “See?  It’s easy!  Plus, just because you Code Scanned it, that doesn’t mean that you’ve taken the object.  Only it’s information is taken, the real thing goes untouched!  Not too hard, am I right?  Pretty simple stuff once you get the hang of it.  Now, c’mon!  Let’s go start our fiery legend!”

  Tia stared at him then finally broke out into a grin.  “Let’s.”

  She pulled out the rusted swords and sighed.  Not much, if anything at all, but it would have to do until they got back home.  She placed the Book into her schoolbag and began to jog back into the town.  She continued going due south until she could make out the dirt road up ahead.  Before she could reach it however, Rempo told her to stop.

  “Aha!  Look over there, that’s a Metalize tablet!” Rempo pointed out to her.

  Tia looked in the direction he was indicating and was surprised to see there was indeed a stone tablet coming out of the ground.

  She walked toward it uncertainly and asked, “Rempo, care to explain to me what this thing is?  I’m sure somebody would’ve noticed _this_.” she wasn’t exaggerating.  The tablet was about half her height in length and twice her width.

  “Nah, nobody could notice it even if they wanted to.  Metalize tablets are pages from the Book that fell out during creation.  They can tell you how to make weapons and items and stuff.”

  “Weapons and items and stuff, you say?”

  “Hey!  I’m your helper here, so don’t make fun!”

  Tia smiled.  “Alright, alright.  So do I Code Scan it like I do the flowers?”

  Rempo nodded his head.  “Exactly like you Scanned the flowers.  And don’t worry about other people trying to take them; as the Book’s Chosen One, only you can see them.  No one else!”

  “No one else?”

  “No one else!”  Rempo stopped.  “Hey, you weren’t teasing me again, were you?”

  “Who, me?  Never.” she stuck her tongue out at him playfully and was glad to see him laugh.  His laugh was nice.  It reminded her of summer days.

  Tia touched the tablet and guided its information back into the Book.  Rempo wasn’t lying.  The page that now appeared was definitely more of a recipe than anything else, with instructions that made no sense to her yet and a description of the item below its picture.

  “Rempo?  These instructions on how to make it, I don’t...”

  “What?  Haven’t I told you about the Codes yet?”

  “Well, no, you have–”

  “Turn to the sword’s page.”

  Tia sighed, but obliged to his request.  She couldn’t help but grimace a bit at the ugly picture of the rusted sword.

  “Okay, it’s called a Battle Sword, right?  And the ‘rusted’ part is just part of its title, right?  Well, by moving around the Codes on the Mental Map on the page next to it, you can change the weapon almost entirely!”

  “Really?” Tia examined the Mental Map closer, on the page of the sword it showed a skull and a copper bar.  “So, if I take this skull off...”  
  “You get a much cooler sword!” Rempo finished.  “But how about you use that neat Metalize recipe instead?  Once we get more Codes that is.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “So...where do we go now?”

  Tia laughed.  “To my hometown in the West of course!  Rhoan, my home sweet home.”

  Tia continued her jog back to town, but once they had some trouble with a goblin tribe that was migrating, Rempo insisted they used the power of the Book to not only weaken them, but to make sure they didn’t migrate any closer to the town.  Tia had to admit that it was a pleasant thought knowing she could do something to keep her home and town a bit safer, she could still remember last winter when she returned home to find a baby goblin eating most of her winter food.

  While they walked, Tia told him about the town, and the Grana Plains that surrounded them.

  “The Grana Plains have always been the most peaceful place in the kingdom, a good place to start something new or to wipe away all your troubles.”

  “Even with the uprising of monsters?”

  “I think it’s especially because of the monsters.  I think it just gives them a bit of hope.  Despite all these monster outbreaks, the traders still go through the Plains, the artists paint the landscapes, and kids still play out there, although they tend to stay much closer to home than they used to.”

  “Except you.”

  Tia smiled at him the way a cat would.  “I’m faster than I look, and if they can’t catch me, they can’t kill me.  Still, the migrations of goblins has been making it more difficult.”

  Rempo nudged her teasingly.  “Not anymore though, right?  Now that their weak to eve a little girl’s punches, right?”

  “I wonder if Spirits are as weak as the goblins are now.”

  “Hey!”

  “We’re here.”

  Rempo stopped and looked around.  The Plains feeling of openness had all but disappeared as thin evergreen trees began to appear, slowly thickening as they pressed forward.

  “Where’s here?”

  “The crossroads of the world!” Tia said.  She pulled out the Book and flipped to the map pages that told them where they were.  “Our Holy King Xenonbart named it long ago, and when the war with the Waisen Empire broke out it was officially named that to show that our town of Rhoan was the center of the world.”

  “Center of the world, huh?” Rempo seemed to consider this for a while.  “Sounds like the perfect place to gather stuff for the Book!”

   Tia never had thought of it like that before.  But, if Rempo was a Spirit that helped oversee the endings and beginnings of worlds, he was sure to have different opinions about things than she would.  She continued to walk down the well worn path until she recognized the ‘official’ crossroads and the guards that stood at their posts.  They certainly wouldn’t want stray travelers coming on down, now would they?

  Rempo reappeared at her side.  “What are those guys doing?”

  “They’re patrol officers,” Tia explained.  “Traders and travelers often come through here.  Holy King Xenonbart has them here so we can keep track of who comes and goes from Rhoan and what they have to trade.”  
  “Code Scan them.”

  “ _What?_ ”

  “Don’t ‘ _what?_ ’ me.  You heard me.  Code Scan them.” he looked at her and noticed her crossed arms and tapping foot.  Rempo gave an exasperated sigh.  “Not only can you Code Scan flowers and Metalizes, but people too!  Happy?”

  Tia obliged and walked cautiously toward one of the soldiers.  He looked at her through his visor.  “This place is off-limits.  Scram!”

  Tia looked at him for a moment then walked back behind a tree.

  “What’s wrong?  Just go up there!” Rempo asked.

  “And then what?  Just touch his shoulder and pull the Codes into the Book?”

  Rempo rolled his eyes.  “You want the truth, Tia?  I haven’t seen someone pull out Codes like the way you did earlier in a long time.  There is an easier way than that though.”

  “Then please just tell me, and no more of this ‘figure it out yourself’ kind of teaching, please.”

  “Fine.” Rempo then told her the alternate way of Code Scanning.  “Now go and get the soldiers Codes!”

  Rempo gave her a small shove in the direction of the other guard.  Slowly she walked up to him, and he curtly told her that the road was off-limits to peasants.  She then struck him with the Book.

  “Hm?” the soldier asked her confusedly.  “What was that?”

  “People don’t tend to realize they’ve just been Code Scanned.” Rempo whispered in her ear.  “Now try Code Scanning all sorts of people!”

  Rempo then went on to explain a certain point system called Code Points, but to Tia all it was was just a way to show the information of the Book and to increase said information.  But then he told her something that held much more value in her opinion.

  “When the Book of Prophecy levels up, you can have a Future Vision!  The Book will show you visions of the near future, so watch closely!  And if there’s anything else you don’t understand, just ask me!  Got all that?”

  “Yep, I think so.” Tia told him cheerfully.  All through his explanations on how to use the Book, she had continued walking up to her home, and now that they were mostly past the farmlands, she was anxious to get home.

  Only once did she stray from the road to Rhoan, and it surely confused Rempo to stop at a mud-and-straw house to ask to use their well.

  “Pardon me, but I would like to know if Alena was here, and if she is, may I use her well to draw water?”  The farmhand looked up at her as if to decided whether or not he should bother with her request.

  Before he could reply however, a round woman with a straw hat had come around the side of the house carrying a large wicker basket filled to the brim with vegetables.  Upon noticing Tia, she gave out a loud noise that seemed to be a combination of a laugh and a cry.  “Bede, you’re not going to tell the girl she can’t have something that little are you?  Shame on you.” The older woman smiled tenderly at Tia.  “You girl, should also be shamed.  Stop asking for permission.  You know where our well is, so go use it!”

  Tia bowed to the woman and also bowed to the farm boy, and went behind the house, down the field, and to the water well.

  Rempo watched.

  When Tia had drunk her fill, she returned to the front of the house to thank them again before heading back on the road.  Rempo was about to ask her what that was all about but she had stopped once again, this time at a stone and wooden house surrounded by small trees just to the side of a magnificent stone bridge.

  “Hm?  What is it?”

  Tia took a deep breath.  “This is my home, Rempo.”  
  “Aw, your house, eh?” he couldn’t help himself now but to tease her, but thankfully there was no malice in his tone.  “Wanna step in?”

  Tia shrugged.  “I didn’t come all this way not to.”

  Tia entered her small one room house and watched as Rempo zoomed around taking it all in.  When he finally returned to her side he looked at her and said, “Not too bad.  If you want, you can go ahead and rest.”

  Tia shook her head.  “That’s kind of you, but no thank you.  I’m not that tired just yet.” she sighed.  “Rempo, I’m sorry for the way I’ve been behaving today, I know I wasn’t on my best behavior today.”  
  “Aw, no worries!” he said waving his one of his arms dismissively.  “You at least listened to what I said, and you weren’t _too_ annoying with your questions.  Plus,” he added with a half-grin.  “We’re going to have to work together from now on, so it’s good to see that you come in more than one flavor.”  
  “Fla...vor?  I don’t understand.”

  “Flavor.  You know; sweet, bitter, rude, loud, et cetera et cetera.”

  “Those last two aren’t real flavors.”  
  “My point is,” He continued.  “It’ll be good for all of us if we’re just honest with each other.  Got it?”

  Tia smiled at him.  “Got it.”  
  Rempo then continued looking all around her house, asking any question that popped into his head.

  “You write stories?”

  “Well, yes, I do.  But after today I’ll probably–”

  “Whose Fana?”

  “My friend.  She–”

  “You use your hearth often?”

  “It gets cold in–”

  “Why won’t this drawer open?”

  “Rempo!” she caught him in midair, laughing.  He was asking even more questions than she did!  “Enough with the questions already!  If you’re so curious, why don’t we just go around the town and I’ll _show you_ instead?”

  Rempo looked at her and grinned.  “That sounds awesome!  Let’s motor!”

  Still laughing, Tia and Rempo left the tiny house.  It would be a long while before they saw it again.


	3. Chapter 3

  “Ugh, this whole place reeks.” Rempo had made his thoughts about the Lower part of Rhoan quite clear in the first few minutes of his and Tia’s outing.  He was having a difficult time seeing much to boast about, even though Tia insisted that there was much for them to be proud of.  Her descriptions of its layout didn’t help matters in the slightest.

  “It’s like a spider web,” she tried to explain to him as they entered yet another alley.  “It’s all detailed and complicated the closer you get to its center, that’s where the castle Frannelle is, by the way, and it spreads out getting looser and less complicated as you get farther and farther away.”

  “And dirtier.” Rempo commented.  “Whey are we even going down through here?  It doesn’t look promising.”  
  “You wanted to look around the town, and keeping you locked up at home might accidentally burn down my house.  And I can’t afford that.  Come on,” she said pointing down to yet another street.  “Fortune-Teller’s Alley is just down there and I have a friend there I’d like you to meet.”

  “Fortune tellers.” Rempo scoffed.  “Phooey.”

  But still he followed her, glad to see that the alley had a fair number of trees and a river on its west side.

  “So tell me,” he asked her.  “Tell me of this ‘Fortune Fellers Alley’.”

  “Fortune Tellers,” Tia corrected, not understanding the jest.  “It’s mostly just a bunch of shops where the tricksters, magicians, and witches stay when it’s not a festival.  I like it here.  The people are funny and they tell the most interesting stories.”

  Tia was also about to tell him of a certain witch that could be interesting when a young girl ran up to them.

  “Hi there!” the little girl said cheerfully.  “I’m Meenya!”

  “Hello there Meenya,” Tia said politely.  “My name is Tia, glad to meet you.”

  The little girl looked up to her with wide eyes and broke out into a wide grin.  “You can see me?  Yay!  Mister, do you want to play a game with me?”

  Rempo turned to Tia.  “We don't have time to waste playing with toddlers.”

  Meenya looked at Rempo curiously.

  “Hm?  What?”

  Meenya, still watching Rempo, tugged at Tia’s sleeve.  “Who’s that, mister?”

  Rempo took flew a tiny bit back.  “Man, she saw me?  I guess spiritual people can see me.  What a drag!” and with that he miniaturized into a tiny flame hid behind Tia’s back.

  Meenya looked around, confused.  “Huh?  He disappeared.  Weird…” a clock somewhere in Upper Rhoan chimed, signaling an hour had ended and a new one was to begin soon.

  “Oh, no!” Meenya cried.  “Look at the time!  I have to get home!  See you!”

  Tia and Rempo watched the girl go down the alley they had come from and vanish right in front of there eyes.

  “Huh?  Something about that girl…” Rempo’s voice trailed off to a muttering that Tia couldn’t understand, but she had a feeling that they were on the same page.

  “Come on,” Tia said breaking the silence.  “I’ll show you some of the other shops.”  
  Still muttering, Rempo followed after her.  Fortune-Teller Alley, like many of the other alleys of Rhoan, were crowded with tiny shops and homes often built on top of them, but this particular alley was smaller compared to most others thanks to the river to the West, and a large wall to the North of it.  But that did not stop Tia from going into many of the shops to visit with their owners and asking them questions about daily gossip and stock prices and what they thought the future might hold.

  “Don’t bother asking about the future,” Rempo said in a low voice, back in the form of a small frame.  “We’ll be making it from now on.”

  “Don’t worry about that.  I like many of them, but not enough to lose coins over that kind of fortune.  They’re good people, and a number of them are good at telling others of their fortunes.  But I won’t be one of those people until they successfully foretell their own fortune.”

  Rempo did a loop-de-loop in the air to show his approval of this statement.  “Good girl!  Nice to see that honesty in you, kid.”

  Tia smiled and turned to peek in a window.  The shop had a ‘closed’ sign up, but that didn’t stop her from entering anyway.

  The shop itself was different from the other fortune-tellers.  The floorboards were covered with only one, albeit large, thick rug that had been dyed some of the more expensive colours like vermillion and indigo and violet, with gold circles also in the pattern to form famous constellations on the rug.  As if that wasn’t impressive enough, the walls were draped in curtains that matched the violet in the rug and blocked out the light from inside, with candelabras in each corner of the room being the only source of light in the small room.  There was also a large stone tablet and a bookshelf, but both of them were in a language unknown to most Kalilians.  Tia noticed that the witch had added more talismans around the room, and had set her famous crystal ball in the very center of the room.

  “I don’t like this place,” Rempo said, staying closer to Tia.  “The perfumes stink, and it makes my head dizzy.”

  Tia had to agree with him on that.  The perfumes, she believed, were chosen to make the senses duller and the mind slower and sleepier than usual.  More than once she had noticed people coming out in a slight daze, only to recover their lost senses after they were well away from the alley.  Tia cautiously went up to the second landing and was relived to see no one was there.

  No one, that is, with the exception of the monster’s skull that fell on her.

  Tia screamed, and threw the skull on the ground, fleeing out of the shop as fast as she could, Rempo right on her heels.  She didn’t leave the alley, but she definitely wasn’t going to wander in _that_ witch’s house without permission (and a sword next time too) anytime soon.

  Once she caught her breath though, she found herself laughing.  “Did you see that skull?  It was huge!  Do you think it could be from a monster like the one I fought on Sunny Hill?”

  Rempo, laughing along with her, said, “No, I bet that was just an ordinary animal skull.  But boy, were you scared!  It’s a good thing you had me to stay sensible.”  
  “You?  Sensible?  Please!  I heard you screaming along with me.”

  “Was not!”

  “Were too!”

  “Was _not_!”

  “Were _too_!”

  They probably would’ve continued bickering like that if Tia hadn’t felt like someone was watching them at that moment.  Which was silly really, in this particular alley, even the rats watched you, hoping to get something out of you if you tripped up.

  Tia looked around and saw that strange girl Meenya looking around the corner of a house at them with wide eyes.  Tia frowned a little at that.  From the look of the little girls clothes she should be where the bureaucrat’s lived, not here where pickpockets and shady people lived.

  But still she waved.  “Hello there, Meenya!  What are you doing over there?  I thought you had to get home.”

  “I do.” she said.  “But I was really hoping that I could play with that boy you’re with.  Do you think you can help me with that?”

  “Well, no.” Tia told her regretfully.  “I’m really sorry Meenya, really I am, but I’ve got some things I need to do and I don’t think I’ll be able to.  I’m sorry.”

  “That’s okay.” she seemed really sad that Tia couldn’t stay to play, but then something seemed to perk her up.  “But still!  You talked Meenya.  And that makes to day a great day!  Bye!” she ran off again, but this time she did not disappear.

  Tia looked at the girl sadly and got up herself.  She looked at the Book, Meenya hadn’t noticed it at all, but she had been able to Code Scan her while she had been talking.

  “‘Mysterious Girl Meenya’” she read.  “‘A small girl living in Rhoan.  Kind and innocent.  Her pure heart lets her see spirits.’ Huh.  Rempo, is this really all the Book can tell me?”

  “Don’t worry, the more you learn about the person and the more you talk to them, the more information gets recorded in the Book.  All it can do is give you a little peek at what they’re like.” he assured her.

  Tia looked at the page again.  “‘Mysterious’.  That’s for sure.”

  They continued going around the alleys, examining the river and the fish that lived there and Code Scanning a flower in a window seal that shocked Rempo when Tia commented that it would make a good dinner tonight.

  “You actually _eat_ that?  Gross!”

  “It’s not gross,” Tia defended.  “It’s making due with what you’ve got that’s all.” she sighed, “Let’s go, I want to see if a friend of mine is home yet from stealing from the rich to feed the poor or not.”

  Rempo looked back at the oddly shaped round plant, but didn’t say anything.

  Tia opened the door to another house that was right on the riverbank and instinctively ducked.

  “Care to share why you ducked?  Yikes.” Rempo looked inside this one-story house and grimaced.  The floor was littered with clothes and broken chairs, with boxes opened and half rummaged through.  On one of the walls were targets of various sizes and shapes, all bull’s-eyes.

  Tia turned a corner at the witch’s home and walked up the stairs to an elevated, much cleaner part of town with the houses curving slightly inward to make an oval shape.  This was the center of the town, although it more closely resembled a marketplace than an actual town center.  Many street vendors were already there to sell their wares, from flower girls to cloth dealers, traders of every kind were there doing business as usual.

  “That’s strange,” Tia said to herself.  She didn’t need to worry about people overhearing her and thinking her queer, in the marketplace, everyone was too busy to pay attention to a mumbling peasant girl.

  “What’s wrong?” Rempo asked.  He was no longer hiding as a flame, but instead as the boy he was, albeit he was now small enough to sit on her shoulder if he so desired.

  “The two biggest legal crooks in all of Rhoan aren’t at there usual place today.” Tia searched for the usual shocks of red hair in the mass of people, but she could see nothing.  “Let’s see if they’re alright.”  
  “If they’re crooks, then who cares if they’re fine or not?”

  “They may be crooks, but they’re crooks that have good stuff and I’m not about to get onto their bad side just because I didn’t say hello.” She hugged the houses that stared at the large amount of people selling, buying, and most likely ripping each other off.  And they called alley dwellers the crooks!

  Tia finally managed to reach the other side of the Town center and stopped to look at the neighboring shop.

  ‘For Rent’

  Tia shook her head sadly.  Poor Serviano!  The old man probably wasn’t able to hang on to such an expensive house after the Romaioni’s had started accepting the Copper Monetary System (nicknamed the Peasant System by some of the less polite upperclassmen) he never stood a chance.  Tia made a mental note to make sure they found a good cottage to live in and to see if Alena would need some extra hands on her farm.  Shaking her head one more time, she entered the Romaioni’s two-story home and was slightly surprised to only see the sister there

  Romaioni and his younger twin sister Francesca were probably one of the least likeable people you would ever encounter in your life and they seemed to revel in that fact.  Not only were they two timing cowards, they also seemed to loath all those they considered beneath them.  And that was everyone besides the royal family themselves!  Despite their less than kind attitude, Tia had maintained good relations over the years.  That is to say, all they did was call her peasant and mock her clothing choices.  For Tia was right about one thing, they were terrible people, but they were excellent traders and would haggle their prices down slightly if they considered you worth the effort.

   “Greetings Miss Francesca,” Tia said with a slight bow.  “I noticed you and your brother were not in the trading center today and I wanted to know if you were both well.”

  Francesca turned and looked up at Tia from her desk in the corner to give her a look of disdain.  That was a good sign to see.

  Finally Francesca gave out a long and exaggerated sigh before finally answering.  “Greetings peasant girl.  Yes, unfortunately my beloved brother is away on business and I simply could not bare to go out there and deal with all of your kind and all of my suitors all at the same time.  So, could you really expect me to handle all that?”

  “Yes,” Rempo said from behind Tia’s shoulder.  “’Cause to me it just sounds like she’s a giant pussy.”

  Tia ignored Rempo and gave another stiff bow.  “Well, I just wanted to see how you were faring Miss Francesca.  If you may, I’ll take my leave.”  
  Francesca looked at her and Tia could see a hint of panic in her eyes before she finally said, “No, I…my father!  Yes, my father would definitely get mad at you for defiling our precious home with your peasant germs.  Away, you!”

  Tia shrugged.  It did not matter to her what the Romaioni’s thought of her, and she was always grateful to leave their house.  It was clean and it was pretty yes, but it was always very cold to her.

  She left and did not even bother to look back.

 

  She continued to walk in the busy marketplace, lost in her own thoughts.  She was so immersed in them that she didn’t even realise that she had walked straight into her friend Kamui. Kamui was a kind young man, who was looked up to by the younger girls thanks to his sweet nature and unique accent that could just faintly be heard.

  “Kamui!  Ah, I’m terribly sorry.  Are you hurt?”

  Kamui gave a small laugh.  “Not likely Tia, and you’re not in any trouble, so don’t worry about it.” he smiled at her, but there was concern in his eyes.  “You’re looking a little down.  Is everything alright?”

  “Ah, yes.  I’ve just been feeling a little low on, on spirits that’s all.” it sounded like a lame excuse, even to her, but thankfully Kamui nodded as if he understood.

  “I see.  Yes, I too find myself in low spirits sometimes as well.”

  “Really?  That’s surprising, you usually look so happy.” Tia said ignoring the gagging coming out of Rempo and praying that Kamui wouldn’t notice.

  “Yes, I usually feel that way when I can’t think of what to write for my novel.  I’ll wrack my brain all night and nothing will come to me.” Kamui sighed.  “It’s always hard to face the next morning.”

  “What a glum guy.” Rempo commented.  “And what’s with the suitcase?”

  “But it’s times like that I go flower gazing.” Kamui continued on.  “Then I think about the meanings of the flowers, and I cheer up!”  Did you know, Tia, that flowers have meanings?”

  “Meanings?  No, I didn’t know that Kamui!”

  Kamui nodded.  “They say knowing its meaning can lend you strength.”  
  Rempo looked up, suddenly interested.  “Hey, that sounds pretty neat, Tia!  Try showing him the flowers we got with the Book of Prophecy!”

  Tia nodded and opened the Book to where the flower that looked like it was on fire was.

  “Great!  Now let’s show him!”  Tia gently pulled a flower out of the Book and held it out to Kamui.

  He looked at it for a moment before saying, “Blazera!  It signifies passion!  Such a lovely flower.  Tia, you seem to enjoy flowers–”  
  ‘ _I enjoy eating them if that’s what you mean’_ Tia thought to herself.

  “– so if you find a flower you don’t know, bring it to me.  I’ll tell you its meaning.” Kamui checked his watch.  “Well, would you look at the time.  I’m terribly sorry Tia, but I must get to the school to begin my lecture.  Would you like to accompany me?”

  “That’s very kind of you Kamui, but I must decline.  I want to visit Fana.” she gave him a bow and waved to him as he left.

  She watched him leave and heaved a sigh.  She felt like an ignorant bumpkin.  Flowers were important to the people of Rhoan and yet she didn’t even know that they had meanings?  Flower beds were personally tended by the Rhoan officials, flowers could show your wealth, give off beauty, describe your feelings, and feed your belly.  _And still she didn’t know there meanings?_   Fool!

  She continued to fume like that for a few more minutes before she told herself to calm down.  She didn’t want to go into Grandma Helen’s and Fana’s house in such a bad mood.  That would make them sad and that was the last thing Tia ever wanted them to feel.

  Tia wandered into Kamui’s neighbor’s house and was greeted by the smell of baking bread.  An old woman was in the kitchen, but she left there quickly enough to greet her when she entered.

  “So good to see you, Tia.  Fana’s right upstairs.”  
  “Thank you Grandma Helen.” Tia began to walk towards her to ask her a question but Rempo decided it was time that he showed his face again.

  “Huh.  So you know this bag of bones?” he asked, examining Helen.

  Tia gave a small gasp at his comment and stared at him in horror.  How rude!  And not just to one of the oldest people in Rhoan, but her friend as well?

  Helen looked at Tia worriedly.  “Everything all right, dear?  Do you see something?”

  Tia looked at Helen.  Then at Rempo.  Then back at Helen.  Then back to Rempo.  She cocked her head slightly in Helen’s direction.

  “What?  Me?  Normal people can’t see us Spirits.  I thought that was obvious.” Tia glared at him.  “Easy, girl.  Don’t worry about it.  They can’t hear us either.”

  Tia nodded to show she understood, and turned back to Helen, who looked utterly confused.

  “Thank you Grandma Helen.  I’ll go say hello to Fana.  But is there anything I can do down here first?”

  Helen smiled.  “No dear.  Now go say hello.”

  Tia nodded and smiled at the older woman.  But first she took her time to look around the room, for Rempo’s sake.  Helen didn’t mind, Tia had always been a curious girl.  In more ways than one.

  Tia was slightly surprised to see that a hidden Metalize was in Helen’s kitchen, but she didn’t complain.  Especially after she saw that it was a recipe for Helen’s delicious fruit juice.

  With that, she went upstairs.

  It was just as neat and orderly upstairs as it was below, with the only major difference being that books were everywhere.  On the table, on the clock, on the bed where a very pretty girl wrapped in a yellow shawl laid.

  The girl in the bed looked up from her reading and seeing it was Tia, she let loose a girly giggle and closed her book.

  “Hello.  Thank you for coming to visit, Tia.”  her smile seemed to light up the entire room now that her friend was here.  She also noticed that her friend was carrying something.  “What’s that book?”

  Tia was surprised.  No one had questioned her up until now about the Book, but she knew it shouldn’t have come to a shock to her.  Fana always was one to notice the little things like that.

  “It’s, it’s a new book I’m reading.  It’s called the Book of Prophecy.” she explained.  She could hear Rempo groan aloud, but she ignored him.  Fana was her friend, and she deserved to now a bit of the truth.

  Tia handed the Book over to Fana, and she was relieved to see that the eyes on the covers had closed themselves.

  Fana looked over the Book in her hands.  “Book of Prophecy?  Sounds complex.” Fana sounded excited over the whole subject, but when she opened the Book, her brow furrowed in concentration.  “Are those foreign letters?  I doubt I could read it.”

  “Obviously!” Rempo said in a voice louder than his usual loudness.  “Only the Chosen One can read it!”

  Fana handed the Book back over to Tia.  “That’s pretty cool you’re reading such a difficult book.  Please tell me what it’s about sometime.”

  Tia nodded her head.  “You’ll be the very first person I tell it to, Fana.”

  The girls talked for a little while longer, Fana about her books and new recipes her grandma came up with, and Tia told her all about how things were on the outside.  Rempo was bored out of his mind.  Tia was just in the process of describing how the Grana Plains looked now that the snow was melting away and the paths were clearing up when Rempo decided to start asking questions.

  “It’s really beautiful to see Fana, the colour of the grass underneath looks like it hasn’t changed colour since last spring, and–”

  “–Why is the clock stuck on the four?”

  “–the snow this year looks like it was sculpted–”

  “–Can this girl read at all?  All these books are nothing but pictures!”

  “–straight out from the heavens above.  And Kamui has told me that–”

  “Who’re all of these people she’s got pictures of?”

  “–Rem _po!_ ”  
  “What’s a ‘rempo’?  What did Kamui tell you about it?” Fana asked.

  Tia and Rempo froze in place.  Tia glanced at Rempo fleetingly before answering.  “Er, Kamui told me that, er, rempo is the name of an age old flower!”

  “A flower?” Fana asked.

  “A flower?  Really?  That’s the best you could come up with?” Rempo asked.

  “Well, not really a flower, but more of just a word that can be used to describe boys who poke their noses in places they shouldn’t be poking in.”

  “Hey!”

  “I was thinking about trying to make it into a slang word.  You know, like, ‘Man!  That was so totally a rempo move!’ or maybe something like, ‘You are so totally a rempo, man.  Totally.’” Tia looked at Fana sheepishly.  “But I don’t think it’s going to catch on anytime soon though.”

  Fana laughed.

  “Well,” Tia said stretching.  “I think it’s time for me to head out.  It’s about four o’clock you know.” she winked at the other girl and was able to get another laugh out of her.  They hugged and promised to see each other again tomorrow.

  “Don’t act like a rempo and be late!” Fana called after her as she went back down the stairs.

  Rempo glared at her.

  When Tia came back downstairs, Helen was waiting for her.

  “Oh, Tia, thank you so much for coming to see Fana.  Ah, yes!” she said in a breathy voice.  “I just finished baking this loaf of bread.  It’s right over there on the table.  Fresh from the oven.  I baked it with nuts and berries into it, so it has the forest’s blessings.  Please help yourself.”

  “Thank you Grandma Helen.” Tia said with a bow.  She went over to the bread and touched it.  Despite what Rempo told her, she still liked Code Scanning things through touch, it made her feel that she, the Book, and the item being Code Scanned were all one and the same, even for a moment.

  “By the way,” Helen told her as she was leaving.  “Master Gustav was looking a bit lonely, why don’t you visit him for us?”

  Tia assured her she would, but this was one promise she didn’t intend to keep.

  When she left the house, Rempo appeared by her side again.  Expecting to get an earful for her cover-up back in Fana’s room, he surprised her by sounding truly sincere.

  “That girl just now,” he said staring at the window Fana was most likely looking through from her bed.  “She was really sick.  She doesn’t have much time left.”  
  “What?” Tia asked him.  She got real close up in his face.  “Rempo, is there any way we can save her?  Any way at all?”

  “You really want to save her?” he asked.

  “Of course I do!  She’s my friend isn’t she?”

  “Then use the Book’s power!” he said.  “You can rewrite things that are recorded in it.  It will change reality!”

  Tia stared at him openmouthed.  How was it that he hadn’t told her this from the very beginning?  This was wonderful news!

  “Now calm down,” he said, snapping her away from her thoughts on what to use the Book for.  “Let’s make that our goal for later.”

  Tia was about to argue with him about that but stopped.  He was right, as important as Fana was to her, she had other matters to do first before she started using the Book for personal wants. 

  “So, where to next?”

  Tia looked around.  “Let’s go to the Back Alleys.”  
  Rempo groaned.  “More alleys?  I hate those!”

  “Calm down, remember, we’re in Upper Rhoan now.  The Back alleys are much cleaner.  Plus, I want to see if the local inventor’s back in town.”

  They went on to the Back alleys and Rempo felt jilted.  There was less dirt in these alleys, yes, but there were lose tiles all around to trip over and strange houses that looked completely different in style from the rest of the town.

  “He’s not home.” Tia sounded slightly relieved at that revelation.

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He likes explosives, that’s why these alleys aren’t as nice as they could be.  But he’s a nice enough fellow, even if they call him a bit of a nut.”  
  They continued down a few more alleyways until they finally reached an abandoned old house.  Tia looked up at the pillars that stood like soldiers at their posts on opposite sides.  Those used to be the gates.  As if to add insult to injury the flower beds had been left unattended for years.  A memory surface when some of the local idiot boys were trying to convince her to go in and swipe something out of there to prove her courage.  Not only had she refused, but she punched out one of the more rude boys for saying he could take everything out of there easily.

  This house was not honoured in the slightest.  And that was the biggest tragedy in her book.  (her book, hyuk, hyuk)

  Even now, she refused to enter the house.  Instead she gave it a deep and meaningful bow and went on her way.

  She returned to Fortune-Teller Alley via a hole in the fence up in the Back Alley.  It was a bit of a fall, but Tia had spent her whole life running, jumping, climbing, and falling down those alleys and could do it without a second thought.

  When she was walking back towards the marketplace, she was stopped by Meenya.

  “Hey!  Hey!  Wanna play?” the little girl looked up at her hopefully.  “No one ever stops to play with me.  Maybe they won’t play because Meenya’s too small!  Hmph!”

  “Well then, they’re just mean!” Tia told her.  “Because Meenya’s too nice and cute to be ignored.”

  Meenya giggled and looked around.  “Hmm…I know!  Wait right here!  Meenya’ll call someone to play!”

  Tia wasn’t sure just how to respond to that, especially how she thought Meenya might ‘call’ someone.

  She didn’t have to worry long though.

  Meenya ran up to the first person to come out of a shop, who happened to be Kamui.

  “Heeey!” Meenya called out.  She ran straight through his legs.  Thankfully that got him to stop walking.  Unfortunately Meenya still ran straight through him a second time.

  “Ah, Tia.  What are you doing here?” he asked.  Tia was still staring at Meenya though, who was now frantically jumping up and down trying to get his attention.  “What is it?  Is there something on my shoes?”

  “Oh, ah!  No, nothing is on your shoes.  Nothing at all.” Well, it wasn’t a total lie.

  “Well,” he said.  “I’d best be going now.  Good-bye.” he walked through Meenya as he spoke.

  “Good-bye.” she said weakly.

  “See?” Meenya wailed.  “No one wants to play!  Oh!  Wait right here again!  I’ll find someone else!” she ran off again, this time vanishing into thin air.

  Tia shook her head in disbelief.  Something told her this was a regular occurrence and she would be here all day waiting with similar results.

  She walked on.


	4. Chapter 4

  Although walking up to the Park, a popular rest spot, wasn’t on Tia’s list of places to go, Rempo had insisted that if ‘she was going to force him through every grimy alley, he should be allowed to see every grimy noblemen’s house as well’.  And to get to the noblemen’s estates, the Park was the only real way to get there.

  Meeting the town’s mayor was also not on her list of things to do that day either.

  “Greetings,” the strange man said to her.  “You must be Tia.”

  Tia looked at him surprised.  She had little contact with most upperclassmen, and she did not recognize him in the slightest.  She looked at him more closely with suspicion.  He could’ve been in his thirties, but the lines on his faces told her that he could possibly be older, although it would shock her if that were true.  He also had glasses, a luxury not found often in Lower Rhoan, and the buttons on his red overcoat seemed to be made of real gold.

  He laughed at her suspicious look.  “Don’t be surprised.  I know the name of every citizen of my town of Rhoan.”  
  “That’s quite a feat your lordship,” she told him.  “Do you mean those residing in Upper Rhoan, the traders in the marketplace, or those living in Lower Rhoan?”

  He laughed again.  “All of them my girl!  I make sure of that.” he looked at her with a newfound humour in his eyes.  “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

  “A nobleman, your lordship.” she said simply.  “And a very observant one at that.  You really know every persons name in Rhoan?”

  “Yes, I truly do.  I do that so I may protect its people and grant them safety.  That is my duty as mayor.”

  “Your duty as…Oh!  Oh, I’m so terribly sorry, your lordship.  I mean, Lord Georg!  I did not recognize you this close up.”

  He laughed again and assured her she was excused.

  Tia looked at Rempo.  He had been awfully quiet for the past few minutes.

  Rempo looked at her.  “This guy’s an Elf.  That’s rare.  They usually only live in the forest.  I thought they hated human towns.”  
  “Really?” she whispered.  She looked at him again.  That _would_ explain why he appeared both young and old at the same time.  And the ears.  It explained the long pointed ears quite well.

  “Ah, so you noticed my ears.” he said with a patient smile.

  “Yes Lord Georg.  Um, I was wondering, your lordship, if you are– ?”

  “Yes,” he interrupted.  “I am indeed an Elf.  The supreme race closest to the Gods.” he laughed again.  “No need to feel uptight.  Please, act naturally.”

  “What?!  That arrogant--!  Ugh!” Rempo flared.  “And I bet ‘natural’ is calling him ‘your lordship!  Argh!”

  Just then, a young lady in a large pointy hat and a sweeping gown that trailed on the ground walked up.  “Lord Georg, your guests are waiting.  They grow restless.”

  “Goodness.” Georg said.  He turned back to Tia.  “We can’t talk under these rushed circumstances.  I’m afraid I must take my leave.”

  Without another word, he left.

  Rempo was not happy with the way they were just treated, but Tia assured him that he should not make it into something to fuss about, especially since Lord Georg had been nothing but good to Rhoan, even if he was a bit full of himself sometimes.

  “Besides,” she continued.  “We’re here, aren’t we?  You have to admit, it’s hard to stay mad when we’re staring at this beautiful fountain and have this beautiful statue of our Holy King Xenonbart.” she winked at him.  “We often call that statue the Xenon-bust.”

  Rempo smiled, but he was still simmering.  “Someone else is coming.  I bet it’s that no good Elf coming back to ask you if–”

  “Yo!  Tia!  Fancy seeing you here.” a boy called out to her from the top of the stairs that led to Upper Rhoan.

  “Rex!” Tia called out happily.  “Good to see you, you troublemaker, you.  I went by your house and you weren’t there.  You didn’t go off and steal the crown jewels, did you?”

  The boy smiled at her.  “No, I did that last week, remember?  Hm?  What’s that book?” he looked at the Book in her bag.  She could almost see the wheels turning in his head, trying to decipher how much it could be worth.  He looked back up at her with a teasing smirk.  “Educating yourself now?  Too late in the game for that.  No matter how much we study, there’s no way out of this pit for us peasants.”

  “What now?” Rempo huffed.  “Who’s this bully?”

  Tia looked at Rempo and frowned.  She knew that Rex was sarcastic and more than a little pessimistic, but he was still her best friend, and she would do anything for him like she knew he would do anything for her.

  “Listen, Tia,” Rex said.  “you’re a good kid, but you’re too naïve about the world.”

  If only he knew.

  “Remember what I told you?  There are two kinds of people in this world.  The ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’.  And studying’s only for the haves.  We could work our tails off, and still never be rewarded.”

  “You’re wrong!” Tia said shaking her head earnestly.  “Rex, you know that’s not true.”

  “Oh, yeah?  Who’re you to talk?” he asked her bitterly.  Rempo had a feeling that this argument was older than this.   “What can you do about it?”

  “Lots of things!”  
  “Well said!”  Rempo said proudly.  “That’s why you were chosen!”

  Tia smiled a bit at Rempo’s compliment and looked at Rex, who was staring at her surprised.

  “Huh?  What’s up with you, Tia?  You’re never this animated.”

  “That’s because I’m here now!” Rempo said, flying next to Rex’s ear and sticking out his tongue.

  Tia looked at him concerned.  He wasn’t going to stop being her friend now that she was ‘animated’, was he?

  As if he could read her thoughts Rex patted her shoulder and told her, “But that doesn’t change the fact that you and I are best friends.” He gave her a grin that reminded her of a twitchy cat.  “I’ll always have your back.” and with that he ran off.

  “I don’t like him.” Rempo muttered.  “Too twitchy.”

  “You don’t seem to care for many of the people here.  Do we really have to go up there?”

  “Yes!  We need information on all kinds of people!”

  Tia looked at him.  “Rempo, I don’t go up there all that often.  And none of those times were by walking upfront.  It always was through roundabout ways and backdoors.”

  “Don’t worry Tia,” Rempo assured her.  “You’ll be fine.  You’ve got me with you, don’t you?”

  She smiled a little at the Spirit Guardian.  “Yes.  Yes, you’re right, I do have you on my side.”

  Taking a deep breath, she trudged onwards to Upper Rhoan.  Rempo almost said words that could make a sailor cringe when he noticed that there were more alleyways, but Tia had to explain to him the difference between an alleyway and a street; alleys are in Lower Rhoan, streets were in Upper Rhoan.  The met another soldier, one even more rude than the ones at the Crossroads, who told them that they were not permitted to go to Frannelle Castle.

  Instead, they went to the Mayor’s house, where yet another soldier told them they could not enter, but he was courteous enough to let them wander through the gardens that surrounded the house.

  “They say that there’re more than a thousand flowers in this garden.” Tia said as she smelled a flower.

  “Phooey to the flowers!” Rempo said.  “I’m tired of flowers and all that junk, let’s go somewhere more exciting!”

  “Alright, alright.” Tia said laughing.  “I guess if we ever wanted to see them again we can use the back way from the Back Alleys.”  
  Rempo looked at her.  “You really know where all those hidden passageways are, don’t you?”

  Tia smiled and bashfully hid her face with her hand.  “It’s good to know those ways.  It comes in handy if you need a quiet escape.”

  Rempo stared at her with a funny look on his face.  “So, why don’t you like coming here?  _The real reason_ _why_.”

  “Fine.  It was about two seasons ago, in the midst of the trading season.  I was foolish enough to sell most of the food I made and give away the rest.  I was hungry, but not close enough to starving.” she shuddered at the memory of her stomach that was caving in on itself.  “I knew that a lot of noblemen had orchids of fruit trees so I went in one of them and took some of the fruit growing there.”  
  “Did they beat you?  Because if they did, we can–”

  “No.  Nothing like that.” she laughed.  “I got away, only to find myself on ‘Playboy Gramps Road’.”

  “Down _what?_ ” he asked in shock.

  “You heard me.  I got away with the fruit, and some other good foods, but now I owe Grandpa Vis a favor, and a favor to a nobleman is next to impossible to fulfill.  That’s why I hate coming up here.”

  “Down _what?_ ” he asked again in shock.

  “But I do want to visit Vis, if just for a visit.  Might as well go.”

  “Down _what_?”

  “Let’s _go!_ ”

  They went on down to Playboy Gramps Road, nothing more but a long street that ended with a large mansion at the end.  When they reached the house an old, shriveled man with an oversized top hat hobbled out, leaning on his cane for support.

  “Hey!” despite the old man’s appearance, his voice still sounded strong and full of youth.  “Well, if it isn’t Tia!  You’re looking cute today.”

  Tia couldn’t help but blush and mumble a thank you.

  Vis shook his head in excitement.  “And even cuter when you blush.” he walked up to her as if to get a better look at her.  “Anyway, what are you doing around here?  Ha ha.  I know what it is.”  
  Rempo raised an eyebrow at the old man and looked at Tia.  _Seriously?_   His expression seemed to read.

  “Yup, no doubt about it.” The old man sighed and turned around.  “Aw, to be young again.”

  “What is _with_ this creep?” Rempo finally asked.  Tia only sighed.

  Vis turned back around and smiled up at her.  “I was pretty good back in my day.  How about I teach you a trick that’ll knock them dead? It works every time!”

  “Hey, looks like this old-timer might actually have a tick up his sleeve.” Rempo looked at her.  “As long we’re here, let’s hear him out, Tia!”

  Tia looked at him.  She had a feeling she knew what the trick was, but why miss a chance for Rempo to be speechless.

  “Please tell me what the trick is, Lord Vis.” she said slowly.

  “Okay!  Fist you find a moving target.” Vis walked behind the stairs that led up to his mansion.  “Sneak up slowly and…”  
  “I can’t hear you,” Tia said, moving closer to hear better.  “What did you say?”

  “…attack!” Vis rushed forward and ran into her.  “Ah, what a glory to behold!  This is nothing short of fate!”

  Tia just stared at him.

  “Then you slip out a present from this ‘pick-up’ sack.  Be sure to woo ‘em good!”

  “ _What?!_   Woo them?!” Rempo shouted.

  Vis then pulled out a large bouquet of beautiful flowers, not unlike the ones Tia had admired in Mayor Georg’s garden.  “Now, mah dearly beloved…Please partake of this gift.”

  He then started acting the way a lady would react to this ‘lovely gift’ in a way only Vis could.  He continued on like that for a while, and was still acting like that long after Rempo suggested that they leave.  Tia had never felt so embarrassed for mankind before in her life.

  Tia snuck away from the strange old man through a back way that led to a large fall down into the Arena.

  “What’s this place?  Seems kinda gloomy to me.”  Rempo immediately started to wander around pointing out things he thought of as strange.

  “The Arena.  Every decade or so we have a martial arts competition here.  Most days though we have kids coming here to play and festivals and other competitions here.” she looked around and frowned.  “I’m surprised to see it empty though.  Must be because the Romaioni’s aren’t doing their gambling bits today.” she shook her head.  “Let’s head on, I want to lay down some of the flowers we found down in the cemetery.”

  The cemetery was, in Tia’s opinion, the most well cared for and most calming place in the entire town of Rhoan.  Tia placed a flower on each of the graves and wondered, ‘ _what is your story?  What was the life you lived before you met your end?_

  But the graves remained silent.

  She stopped at a grave only once, one that belonged to a little girl, when she read her name aloud Rempo only nodded.  Their thoughts earlier in Fortune-Teller Alley was now confirmed.

  “Let’s go visit her again,” Tia said.  “I want to make sure.  Plus, Rex might actually be there this time.”

  Rempo obliged, but only if they could go see the training hall he had overheard some of the town boys were talking about earlier.  Tia didn’t like it, but she agreed.  When they got back to the alley, Meenya was there, alone and drawing pictures in the ground.  When she saw them her face lit up.

  “Hi there!” she said.  “Oh!  Lady!  No one wants to play with me!  Maybe they all hate Meenya.”  
  “Don’t say that Meenya,” Tia said.  “Nobody could ever hate you.”

  She looked up at Tia.  “Then why do they never play with me?”

  Tia wasn’t sure how to answer that, but thankfully Meenya then asked an easier question.  “Won’t you play with me, lady?”

  “Of course I will, Meenya.”

  “Hip, hip hooray!  Okay, then!  I’ll give you my most precious-wecious doll!  You can bring it over and we can play all sorts of games!” Meenya vanished, but only for a moment and returned with a rather beaten up doll.  “Take good care of her!”

  Tia stared at the doll in her hand and then back at the girl.  In one scoop she was able to pick up the ghost girl and twirl her around, making her squeal in delight.  Tia then noticed somebody with blue hair a short distance away.

  “Meenya, honey,” Tia said in as motherly a voice as possible.  “I’m really sorry dear, but I have some business to attend to.  Will you be alright?”

  “Yeah, okay!” the girl said with bright eyes.  “Let’s play again later!”

  Tia agreed and set her down.  Despite her being a ghost, despite the fact that she hadn’t even known about her existence for very long, Meenya had already found herself a place in Tia’s heart.

  Tia shook her head and ran on, trying to catch up to the boy.

  “Rex!” she called out.

  He turned to her and motioned for her to follow her inside his house.  She obliged and went in with him.

  “Hey, Tia.  I’ve noticed you keep going wherever there’s monsters lately.  Did something happen?” he looked at her, concern crossing over his face for a brief moment.

  Must have been a trick of the light.  That’s what he’d claim if she asked him.

  “Well, you see Rex, I found this Book, see, and it’s called the Book of Prophecy and it’s a signal of the end of the world.  So I have to go around and find things that have true value to record before the world officially ends and, and, well it gets complicated after that.”

  “Hm?  Book of Prophecy?” he didn’t seem to understand, but instead of saying so he just laughed, although it sounded slightly forced.  “What are you, stupid?  You must’ve hit your head too hard on a fall or something!” he pretended to examine her head for bumps.

  “Argh, no!  I’m serious, Rex!  And stop messing up my hair!” she shoved him back in a playful manner, but the look on his face made her worry that he didn’t take it that way.

  He stared at her for a moment before sighing and running a hand through his unruly hair.

  “Sheesh.  I can’t help but worry about you safety.  Why can’t you just quit while you’re still ahead?!  Doing all this sleeping and daydreaming…that won’t make you any money.”

  “Rex.” Tia said.  She hated it when he got like that.

  “Fine.  Wait here for a minute.” he walked out.

  How could she just stay?  She went after him.

  She was just about to head in the direction she thought he went when he was already coming back.  He did not look pleased that she tried to follow him.

  “Tia!  I told you to wait!” he seemed to be trying to get angry at her and failing.  He handed something to her.  “Here.”

  “Mystic Jewels?  _Thirty_ Mystic Jewels?” she had long since learned not to question where Rex got all his ‘goodies’ but still, this wasn’t something easy to get a hold of.  She stared at him.

  He shrugged.  “There’s no way I can stop you, huh?  A best friend would know that.  Just be careful.  the monsters out there are tough.” he put his hands on her shoulders and stared at her right in the eye.  “Make sure you don’t get hurt.  If things get rough, run away!  It’s my advice as your best friend.  Listen to me, okay?”

  Tia nodded.  “Don’t worry about that, Rex.  I’m good at running, remember?”

  He smiled and took his hands off her shoulders.  “See you later.  Oh, before I forget, Gustav of the training hall was upset with you.  Maybe you should say hello.”

  Tia sighed.  Great, not only did Grandma Helen and Rempo wanted her to die, but apparently Rex wanted her dead too.

  “We have a deal,” Rempo reminded her as they walked on.

  “Fine, but let me warn you, there’s a reason they call the alley Gustav lives down ‘Wrath’s Domain’.”

  “Aw, you’re exaggerating!” he grinned at her.  “What could this ‘Goo staff’ do to you?”

  “Gustav.  And a lot of stuff.”

  “Like?”

  “Kill me.”

  Rempo laughed.  If only he knew.

 

  Tia went down Training Hall Road, trembling.  She knew Gustav was going to kill her, she just knew it!  Rempo’s assurances hadn’t helped her much, although he did point out that she could now make one of the sword Metalizes now, and it did make her feel better having an actual weapon in her hands now, but still.  Walking back into the Training Hall felt like she was slapping her former Master right in the face.

  The Training Hall was empty, which was strange since it was the middle of the day.  Her Master was sitting on the benches on the far side of the wall and didn’t even look up at her as she entered.

  “So, you’ve finally come.” he said instead.  “I bet you were napping in the fields again.”

  “What?  No way!  You mean you were this geezer’s pupil?”

  Tia blushed and nodded. 

  “Hmph.” Master Gustav said.  “The fact that you’re here must mean you want to learn again.  Am I correct?”

  Tia looked up and stared him in the eye.  “Yes, Master Gustav.  I need to learn.”  
  “Swordsmanship is not to be taken so lightly, child!” He stood up and glared at her.  “Go home!”  
  “We’re not fooling around!  We were just attacked by a monster!” Rempo yelled at the master swordsman.  He turned to Tia.  “Go on!  Tell him!  Tell him about the monster.”

  “I can understand why you won’t take me back, Master Gustav.” Tia said in a quiet voice.  “But please hear me out.  When I was napping in the fields, I had been attacked by a bull-like monster, one I had never encountered or heard of being in Grana Plains before.  I had not been able to escape, and had to rely on what little I could remember from your teachings.”  
  “Bow your head!  Bow your head!” Rempo instructed.

  Tia lowered her head.  “I probably would’ve died right then and there.  I feel ashamed now, for ignoring your teachings when it truly means now life or death.” she raised her head and stared at him with a sudden strength.  “Please, Master Gustav, please teach me the way of the sword!”

  Gustav was silent during her plea, before finally saying, “Show me your fighting stance.”

  Tia, surprised that it actually worked, pulled out the two swords and got into fighting stance one.

  Gustav sighed and turned away as if she were an embarrassment.  “You should probably master the art of running away.”

  “We’ll shut that old man up!” Rempo growled.  “Tia, don’t listen to him!  You’re the Chosen One of the Book of Prophecy!”

  “Gustav,” Tia said in a voice that made her sound stronger than she felt.  “I am not leaving here until you teach me!”

  Gustav looked at her.  “Hm, you think you can handle it?  How amusing.” he walked to the farthest right corner of the Training Hall and pushed one of the bricks inward, revealing a stairwell.  “Then follow me.  This is my special training area.”

  He began to head down.  “I’ll be waiting in the back.  If you can reach me, then I’ll teach you a special move.”

  “Heh, all right!” Rempo chuckled.  “Let’s get through this and show him what we’re made of!”

  Tia turned to him and returned the smile.

  “Let’s.”

  She was going to prove to Gustav that she was a worthy pupil.  If this was what it took, then so be it.

  They descended down the underground passageway.


	5. Chapter 5

  Gustav was in the final cavern of his training ground, waiting.  His Master before him, Master Sord, had been the one to discover and use these caverns underneath the school for those with exceptional potential in the ways of the sword and it had pained Gustav to no end that he had not found one student to send down into hit.

  Not one student, save for one.

  She had so much potential, more than his own son could hope to achieve.  And he knew she had the endurance to keep up with the training it would require.  Gustav was no fool, he knew that she was working hard to aid Helen and her granddaughter, and he would tolerate that.  What had put him off against her was when she had started to use that as an excuse and would just head off somewhere in the fields and sleep instead of being productive.

  Four months ago she was his last hope of someone with talent being under his training.  But something seemed to have gone wrong.  She was constantly exhausted even though she was more often than not sleeping, she made glaring mistakes, some that even the most novice of swordsmen could avoid.  He had found himself yelling at her more and more often, until she finally stopped coming altogether.  Yes, he had some of the blame, but he was not going to give the girl the satisfaction of having someone else take the blame for her own faults.

  Yet he still had hope.  When she finally returned today she seemed different.  There was a fire in her that he had never seen before.  Maybe that was why he was testing her with the last of his Master’s tests, or maybe he wanted to be rid of her at last.  Only time would tell.

  He was contemplating the notion of going up to see if she was actually trying to reach him or not before she entered through the door.

  “Gustav!”

  He turned to her and raised his eyebrows.  “I can’t believe you made it this far.  I expected you to leave.”

  Tia just stared at him with a fire in her eyes that surprised him by their strength.  She also seemed to become more aware of her surroundings, constantly glancing to the sides to make sure nothing would surprise her.  You can’t teach that in a classroom.

  “Gustav, please teach me.”

  Gustav smiled and laughed at her ignorance.  “I have nothing more to teach you.”

  “What?!” she shouted.  She glanced to her side again and then a smile broke out her face.  “Really?”

  “You’ve already learned all of my sword techniques on your way here.” He said as he sized her up.  “Few have ever made it this far.”

  She smiled and turned her head away.  “Thank you Gustav.”

  “Yes,” he said gravely.  Now might be his only chance to pass down his technique, the actual final test.  “you may have the basics down, but there’s still the Special Move.”

  Tia cocked her head to the side.  “Special Move?  Sounds interesting.”

  “Yes, and you are worthy to learn it.  Now, watch closely.” Gustav pulled out the two mithril katanas that gave him his name: Gustav, Master of the Twin Blades.  He showed his former pupil the Special Move of his sword school, the Whirlwind Blade.

  He took some pleasure in the awed look on her face.

  “That was amazing!  How quickly can we practice it, Gustav?”

  “Heh, don’t get too excited.” he told her, not relaxing from his fighting stance.  “I’ll only teach it to you if you face me in battle!”

  Tia gave him gave him a grave nod and got into her own fighting stance.

  “You will now face Gustav of the twin blades!”

  She charged him head on.

  It had been an exhausting battle, with the student and the teacher having to clash their blades against one another, neither losing ground nor gaining any either.  Gustav did not go easy on his former pupil, and he forced her to do more than just her usual duck and dodge, but to also parry and to actually meet his blade.  Still, he couldn’t help but slip into his mentor phase on more than one occasion.

  “I see you’re keeping your blades closer to your body now, huh?” he said as he pivoted on his heel.  “Good!  You need to remember your blade if for your defense, not just for attacks!”

  She parried his attack without a word and used her left handed sword to draw up a cloud of dust.  Using that to hinder his eyesight, she rolled away off to his side and made it look like she was to continue retreating, only to feint and lunge to his right side and was able to beat a one of his katanas out of his hands and traded it out with one of her own swords.  He lunged forward using his Special Move, and he was able to land a fair amount of damage, but she still had his katana in the end.

  Gustav glanced briefly around, looking for the sword she had just discarded, but it was no where to be found.  Where had she put it?  There was no way she could’ve sheathed it without him noticing, there was no way–

  He noticed that she had a book in her satchel.

  “Gustav, you really should follow your own advice.” she said drawing him back into the fight.  “Rule number 16, _never_ let your guard down!”

  In one fluid motion, she threw point and disarmed him.

  She looked at him.  “Teach me.  Now, please.”

  He stared at the floor for an agonizingly long time, before he finally rose up and agreeing.  They had to have spent at least few hours down there, perfecting her Whirlwind Blade, but in the end she had been able to mastered it.

  “Marvelous!  You’ve learned the skill well.” he looked down at her from the brim of his nose.  “But you only get 50 points.  You need to practice more in _real_ battles.”

 Tia smiled, but it wasn’t for anyone in particular.  “Old habits never die easily.  You still play hard.” she bowed to him again, showing how he still had her respect, even if he was no longer her mentor.  “Thank you…Gustav.”

  She turned to leave, but Gustav was not yet done.  “And Tia… Don’t forget.”

  She looked back at him.  “Forget, sir?  Forget what?”

  “A harsh fate awaits you ahead.  Train you mind, body, and soul.  Only then will you be able to face your destiny.”

  She looked around the cave uncomfortably, not meeting his gaze.

  “ _Understand?_ ”

  She looked up at him and nodded.  Then she turned around and ran out of there.

  Gustav took a deep breath.  “So…the time has finally come.” he looked where she ran off, seeing nothing.  What was he supposed to do now?

 

***

  “Well, that went well!” Rempo said stretching.  “I’m glad to be out from underground though.  I hate being confined!” He looked at the Chosen One grinning, hoping to lighten the mood and give her the opportunity to say how ironic his choice of words were.

  But she said nothing.

  Rempo sighed.  “Oh come on Tia, you just kicked that old geezer’s butt!  What’s to be mope about?”

  “I don’t know Rempo,” Tia looked around nervously and fidgeted.  “But something is feeling…I don’t know, out of place.  Like something big is about to happen, and I need to be there.”  
  “Sounds like your super Chosen One senses are here,” Rempo said with a cheeky laugh.  “If you’re so worried about something happening, then let’s go to your ‘Holy King’ and tell him.  And while you’re at it, you should tell him you’re the Chosen One of the Book of Prophecy and you like to eat spicy honey cakes.”

  Tia found it interesting that he said ‘you should’ instead of ‘we should’.  “But I don’t like spicy hot cakes.”

  “But I do.  Now let’s go!”

  Tia sighed and pulled out a cookie from the Book.  Having an all-powerful Book of Prophecy is nice, but Tia preferred its ability to conjure up food more than its ability to conjure up weapons.  “It’s not that simple.  The Holy King doesn’t just see anybody, Rempo.  And I have a sneaking suspicion no one will believe that I’m as all powerful as you say I am.  I myself am having a hard time believing it.  And that’s only if we get in, it’s more likely that they’ll run us off the grounds.”

  “Oh come _on_ , Tia!” Rempo said irritated.  “If that’s all you’re worried about, then I’ll blast ‘em with fire!  You didn’t even let me try against the old man, so you owe me at least that!”

  She looked at him, then looked back at the half-eaten cookie in her hand.  “Rempo, you said it takes energy to do that, right?  I tried it twice before we got to the bottom, remember?  I nearly fainted afterwards.  Please don’t get angry, but I if that happened in battle, _any_ battle, it would only end up in me either losing or dying.  Plus, and please don’t hate me for this either, but I wanted to defeat Gustav on my own.  I really want to know where I am skill wise.” she looked at him and smiled.  “But if it makes you feel better, the next guy who messes with us will have to deal with you and your power.”

  That made Rempo feel a bit better, but he didn’t let it show.  “So, we’re going to the Castle then, right?”

  Tia finished her cookie.  “No, we’re still not going.”

  “What?!”

  “It’ll cause more problems than solutions Rempo, and I’d prefer to avoid that if possible.  Let’s go home and sleep instead.”  
  Rempo flew in her way and grew to his human sized form.  “Don’t make me force you, Tia.”

  Tia raised an eyebrow.  Force her?  What would that do to help him at all?  She didn’t respond to his challenge and just walked around him.  You should never ignore a Spirit, especially if that Spirit is an irritated fire Spirit.

  Instead of attacking or dragging Tia to where he wished to go,-both of which he was forbidden to do-, Rempo decided the best way to get a child to do what he wanted it to do would be to act the way a child would.  So he sat on her.

  “Oof!  Wha, Rempo!” she gasped.  “Get…get off!”  
  “Heh, heh.  I’m heavy aren’t I?” Rempo smirked.  “These shackles that bind me to the Book are annoying, but they make me stronger than most other creatures.  And heavier too.  How much longer are you going to stand that, I wonder?”

  Tia was already gasping for air.  “All…right.  Alright!  Now…g-get…off!”

  Rempo obeyed and floated harmlessly up in the air.  “We’re going there right now, right?”

  Tia glared up at him.  “Do I have a choice?”

  He grinned down at her.  “You always have a choice.  I just help you make better choices.”

  Tia couldn’t come up with a good enough comeback to that so she just settled with a scowl, which made Rempo laugh.  Finally, one came to her although it was still rather pathetic.  “I remember always wishing for a younger sibling, even when some of my farming friends said that I was crazy for wanting one.  I wonder if you’re a punishment for wanting a brother so much.”

  Rempo shrunk back to his smaller form, but he still grinned at her.  “A little brother?  Not too bad, but technically I’m the older one here.”

  That set off a nice long argument between the two of them for the walk back up to the Castle’s gate, finally agreeing that to be an ‘older sibling’ you must simply be admired by one younger than you for some reason or another.

  Tia glanced at the front gates of the castle.  “Strange.” she mumbled.  She looked down at the Book.

  “What?” Rempo asked looking over her shoulders.

  “Well, for as long as I can remember, there’s always been guards at the front gates.  And even here in the Book it says that they always have at least two guards on patrol constantly.”  
  “Then that must be that bad thing you were feeling!” Rempo said trying to keep both of them off their foreboding thoughts.  “This just makes it easier for us to enter the castle.”

  Tia couldn’t understand why something as simple as absent guards were making her feel, but nevertheless she walked forward and went under the castle’s gates.

  “There!  He ran that way!” someone’s voice shouted.

  Tia nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the guard’s voice, and on instinct she hid behind one of the gate’s pillars and prepared to sprint the moment they got too close.  She watched as two palace guards ran right past her hiding spot, not even giving it a single thought.  She thought she heard them shout something else but she wasn’t entirely sure.

  Tia and Rempo emerged from their hiding spot and looked to where they ran off to.

  “What’s going on?” Rempo asked to no one in particular.

  “Probably some hungry thief who got caught and is trying to avoid punishment.” Tia said sadly.  Not many other kids who lived on what they could get were as lucky as Tia or as skillful as Rex.  When they got caught, they were punished.  Severely.

  Just then, another voice could be heard farther up ahead of them shouting, “Lady Dorothea!” followed by another voice shouting, “Please come back!”

  Tia and Rempo looked around but saw nobody.

  Rempo leaned against Tia’s back and groaned, “What now?  Whoa!” he shouted as something black and fuzzy dashed by them.  “What was that?”

  “I think it was a cat.  A very fast one, but still a cat.”

  Rempo looked at Tia in disbelief.  “That was a cat?  But those ears!  They were huge!”

  Before Tia could respond to that she heard another voice, a much more high pitched voice, coming there way.

  “Guri Guri!  Where did you go?!” the voice shouted in a panic.  Tia didn’t even have enough time to turn around before she was knocked over by whomever it was that was shouting.

  Tia was the first to recover and got up to check on the other girl.  She probably wasn’t hurt, but the size of her dress probably made the fall rather awkward for her.  She seemed to be a very pretty girl, clearly someone of high rank, but the anger in her eyes towards Tia made her slightly uneasy.

  “You little twerp!  Quit standing in my way!” She yelled at her in frustration.  “Get out!  Move it!  Simpleton!”

 _‘For a girl of high rank, she sure had a mouth on her.’_ Tia thought and glanced at Rempo, who looked like he agreed with her.

  Rempo rolled his eyes at her.  “Here comes another weirdo.”

  “I’m sorry my lady,” Tia said in her most polite voice.  “But _you_ ran into _me_.”

  The girl glared at her and miraculously managed to get up on her own.  “Whatever!  I don’t have time to waste arguing with you!  _Now get out of my way!_ ”

  The black thing that had ran by earlier had returned by now and rubbed against the girl’s leg, diverting her attention from Tia.

  “Guri Guri!  There you are!” the girl picked up Guri Guri and as if by magic, transformed into a kinder, gentler person.  “Good boy…”

  “See,” Tia whispered.  “I told you it was a cat.”

  “That is not a cat.” Rempo said stubbornly.  “It’s some sort of cat-rabbit hybrid.”

  The girl in the expensive dress set Guri Guri down again and looked over Tia.  “And as for you!”

  Tia stood up straighter.  that town of voice wasn’t one that told her she would be let off easily.

  “Are you from town?”

  “Oh, um… Yes, your ladyship.”

  “Excellent timing then.  There’s an imperial intruder loose in the town!”

  “Imperial intruder?  Well that explains the lack of guards.”

  The girl nodded.  “Yes, and you shall help me find him.  I must see him.”

  “Hmph!  Don’t waste our time!” Rempo scoffed.  “C’mon, Tia.  Forget about her.”  
  “I’m…sorry, your ladyship,” Tia said hesitantly.  “But I have other business I must attend to first, so if you don’t mind–”

  The girl’s face started to turn a little bit red at Tia’s rejection.  “Why you!  You _dare_ defy Princess Dorothea’s order?!”

  _Princess?_

  Princess Dorothea began shaking her fists and began to stomp her feet.  “No, no, no!  You’re helping me and that’s final!”

  “Yikes!” Rempo said grimacing.  “She’s like an animal!  Tia, we have to stop her.  I can’t stand her yelling!”

  Tia cocked her head to the side in thought and looked at Guri Guri.  The cat gave her a look as if to say, ‘ _What can you do?’_

  Dorothea looked at her reproachfully.  “…So you’ll help?”

  “Yes, Princess Dorothea.  I will show you around the town.”

  The Princess looked at her slightly bewildered.  As if she didn’t expect for her to give in so quickly.  But it was gone quickly in a moment passing.

  “I’m glad you understand.  Now you’ll escort me!” She looked around and then said in a hushed voice.  “Just don’t let the guards catch you.”

  ‘ _Why is it,’_ Tia wondered.  ‘ _that it’s always “me” or “you” not “we” or “us”?’_

  Guri Guri suddenly moved away from the two girls and began to his and spit at the left gate’s pillar.  The girls looked at one another then looked up at the top of the gates.

  A Waisen Imperial Knight was staring down at them

 

***

  The monster hidden in the Waisen Knight armour was at his wits end.  He and his accomplice, Minotaurus, had both smelled the Book of Prophecy back in those blasted plains and had agreed that they needed to split up and find the Book before that fool of a general found out what they were doing.  Although he didn’t know where that idiot bull had run off to –probably chewing some cud or grass or whatever those things ate – he actually had a plan.  Of sorts.  Find the people, and the Book of Prophecy would be nearby.

  But there were too many people.  The Book of Prophecy could be anywhere, and he did not know where to begin.  He finally decided to wait on top of this giant gate until he had come up with what to do next, but apparently some of those worthless humans had noticed him and were in a frenzy to find him.  Stupid fools.  They never bother to look above or below, only what is right next to them.

  Although it was relaxing to stay put for a moment, he was starting to get restless and was debating the penalties he would get if he revealed his monstrous nature so early in the plan.  When the monster heard a hissing and spitting of a cat below him, however, made the decision for him.

  “The Book of Prophecy!” it cried in a deep, animal like voice when he saw it with one of the cat’s presumed owners.  “It paid sneaking into the town like this.”

  He began to cackle, losing all of his demeanor and jumped down.  Such a jump could harm a weaker man, but he was no man.

  And, he just might be able to eat the annoying cat and those girls after he gets the Book of Prophecy.

 

***

  “Who are you?!” Princess Dorothea demanded.  Her eyes widened as she recognized the insignia on the Knight’s armour.  “That armour…So you’re from the Waisen Empire?”

  She began walking towards him, unaware of the world around her.  “You must tell me!  Is my beloved Prince Valdo–”

  “Hey!” Rempo shouted in vain.  “Watch out!  He’s…”

  “Out of my way, pest!” the Knight cackled as he shed his armour to reveal his true form.

  “He’s not human!”

  Dorothea backed away from the half-horse half-demon and tripped, but she never broke her eye contact.  Guri Guri, the brave cat he was, jumped between the monster and the Princess, hissing and showing his fangs and claws all the while.

  The monster sniffed in there general direction then looked at Tia.  Without taking his yellow eyes off of her, he swung his monstrous scythe, striking Guri Guri and sending him flying through the air.  Dorothea screamed.

  Rempo growled.  “Let’s go, Tia!”

  She didn’t even need to say anything, for she was already charging the monster, the Orobus, she later learned it was called and attacked.

  Tia turned and stared at the scene unfolding before her now that the Orobus had been slain.  A personal maid to the princess had finally come in search of Dorothea, and she had brought a Royal Soldier with her.

  “Lady Dorothea!” the Maid cried.

  “There you are!” the Soldier said somewhat relieved.  Then they say what she was kneeling next to.

  “No, Guri Guri!” the Princess wept.  “Don't die!”

  Tia felt terrible for the Princess.  It was clear that Guri Guri was very dear to her, and it wasn’t fair that he should die when he was trying so hard to protect her!

  “Tia, the Book of Prophecy!” Rempo said.  He looked distraught over all this just like her.  “You have to use it!  Code Scan the cat!”

  Tia nodded vigorously.  How could she have forgotten?  Hadn’t Rempo himself say that she could alter reality?  If there was ever a time, this was it.  She walked over to the dying cat and touched him then looked at her Book.

  “You see the wound code on his page?  It’ll heal if you remove it!” Rempo said enthusiastically. “But it won’t just come off.”  
  “Then what do we do?” Tia asked despairingly.  What was the point of a mind-altering Book if she couldn’t remove codes?

  “Hang on, I’m getting there.  Um, oh right!” Rempo pointed towards the Princess and the Maid.  “To remove it, you’ll need other Codes to change its title.  You need to give this cat-rabbit the ‘vitality’ title!”  
  “How do I do that?”

  “In order to get ‘vitality’,” Rempo said thinking hard.  “You’ll need Light and Hope Codes!  Then you can save him!”

  Tia looked at the Maid.  Without wasting a moment she touched her shoulder.  Light Codes, and it was easy enough pulling a Hope Code off the Ogre.  With a practiced hand, she moved the Codes that floated before her, until all there was energy, and no Wound Code.

  Tia closed the Book and looked up.  The cat was surrounded by light for a moment, and when the light subsided, Guri Guri was standing up all on his own.

  The Princess was shocked.  “His wound healed!”

  “What on earth…?” the Soldier asked backing away.

  “How can that be?!” the Maid asked also backing away.

  Rempo laughed at their expressions.  “See that?  That’s the Book’s power!”

  “They don’t seem too thrilled…” Tia muttered.  She was right, the Soldier was now putting himself between Tia and Dorothea.

  “What’s the big deal?” Rempo asked.  “We just performed a miracle!  Why’s everyone so tense?”

  “Sorcery!” the Maid shouted pointing a finger at Tia.  “This must be sorcery!”

  At that moment, the entire area was covered in a dense purple fog!  And out of that fog, came a true user of sorcery, the witch Nanai.

  In fear, the Soldier, Maid, and even the Princess shielded their eyes, so as not to be cursed.  Nanai seemed to have expected this.

  She began to walk away.  Not even pausing when she told Tia to follow.

  And follow she did.

 


	6. Chapter 6

  “Welcome to the witch’s lair.  I am Nanaida Seer.  You may call me Nanai.  But you already knew who I was.” The Witch smiled at Tia in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

  Tia couldn’t do anything but nod.  Even though there were things much more important to think about, she couldn’t help herself but worry more about if the witch knew that she entered her home without her permission or not.

  “Huh.  So she says she’s a sorceress.” Rempo said unimpressed.  “Bet she’s another conartist. Be careful.  We can’t trust her completely.”

  He didn’t need to tell her that.  Nanai always scared Tia, even though she couldn’t really think of a reason why.

  “I happen to have a great interest in you.” Nanai said watching Tia as she leaned in closer.  “Do you know?”

  “Know what…Maid Nanai?” Tia asked with a squeak of a voice.

  Nanai smiled.  “You have a very different aura about you than other people.  Yes… it’s a power similar to my own.” She smiled again, as if the comparison pleased her.

  “How dare a sorceress compare her powers to ours!  Ridiculous!” Rempo fumed.  He turned to Tia.  “Listen.  Human spells are made by a fake power.  The Book’s power is different!”

  “Now close your eyes and I’ll read you your future.” Nanai said in a sure, confident voice.  It made it hard to argue with her.

  “My future?” Tia asked.  She wouldn’t be able to admit it, but for years she always wanted to go and have her fortune read to her.  Just once.  But Rex had always insisted her money not be spent, and for similar reasons Rempo said.  Plus, phrases like ‘close your eyes’ were telltale signs that you were about to be robbed by one of their gypsy brethren.  Nevertheless, when Nanai nodded to her she closed her eyes.

  Rempo made a disgruntled noise next to her, just in case she didn’t know how he felt about all this.  He watched as Nanai held her hands out in front of her, muttering incantations under her breath, and for a moment he almost thought a wind was making her large cape flutter.

  “Huh?  What’s this?” Nanai asked.  “I can’t…see anything!”

  Tia frowned as she heard Nanai screamed and a light flashed behind her eyelids.  When she opened her eyes Nanai was standing several paces back, sweat dripping down her face like what had just happened had been a large effort.

  “Just what… _are_ you?” she asked.  “My magic doesn’t work on you!”

  “Hmph, she planned on using dirty magic on us, anyway!” Rempo said smugly.  “It’s no use trying!”

  Nanai stared at her and began to chuckle.  Soon though the chuckle turned into a fully blown laugh that made Tia incredibly uncomfortable and edge slightly closer to the door.

  “What’s gotten into her?” Rempo said edging back as well.

  “That’s it.  I give up.  I can’t possibly win.” Nanai seemed to be talking to herself, not yet noticing how worried her guest was about her.

  “Maid Nanai?” Tia asked nervously.  “Is something the matter?”

  Nanai looked at her, as if she had forgotten she was there entirely.  “I don’t know where you trained, but I’ve never felt such power before”

  Rempo laughed.  “Told you!”

  “This power…could it be…?” mumbling to herself, Nanai began to pace back and forth stopping after a few moments of debating with herself.  “Can you read this?  This tablet’s a family relic.” She gestured to the large stone tablet to Tia’s right.

  Although she and Rempo had been in there earlier, they hadn’t given it much thought, thinking it was just another prop.  Rempo floated closer to it as if in a daze.

  “These are…prophecies…Normal humans could never read it.” He continued to stare at it even after Nanai continued to talk.

  “Only a proper shaman can read these glyphs.  An unclean sorceress like myself can’t do it.  Perhaps my grandma could read it…” she trailed off back to a muttering.

  Tia glanced at her then walked to the tablet.  How it could be carried around she didn’t know, but Nanai was right.  It gave off a powerful feel, making Tia remember the Monolith back at Sunny Hill.  She stared at the glyphs for a brief moment before it zoomed towards her.  Images flashed before her eyes, words of what would be, poison rain, monster bugs, towers falling, and fire bleeding through the earth and tainting the sky.

  “Are you all right?” Nanai asked with genuine concern.  “What on earth happened?”

  Tia couldn’t respond, feeling more than a little light-headed.  What was written on this tablet, were to words as her dreams had been to pictures.

  “Did you see it?” Rempo asked, finally coming out of his daze.  “Then you must believe the truth!”

  Tia stared at the tablet.  As much as she tried, she could no longer deny that this was now a reality.  She was not insane, conjuring up a make-believe importance to make herself feel better, no.  The truth was carved into this stone.

_The pieces of this puzzle will soon be complete Chosen One, you must accept this fate._

  “I understand now.” Tia whispered back to the Voice.  Yes, she would accept it.

  “You were able to read it?  What did it say?!” Nanai asked in an almost desperate voice.  She almost walked toward her, but stopped when she noticed how pale and shaky the girl had become.  “My, you look dreadfully tired.”

  “Tia,” Rempo said as she turned to him.  “the prophecy made it clear, right?  It’s saying the Book will create the next world.  And you will be the one to decide what belongs in it.”

  “Are you all right?” Nanai asked again, slightly louder.  “Come here.”

  Tia nodded numbly and went back to the opposite side of the table.

  “Good, now stand still for a moment.”

  “Tia…watch yourself!  Something smells fishy.” Rempo warned.

  Nanai smiled at her as she put her hand on the crystal ball and pushed downward.  There was a loud _clank_ ing noise from below and before Rempo could shout “What the–” Tia was down in the witch’s basement.

  “Damn it!  What did I just say?!” cursing, Rempo flew down after her.

 

  Tia had always prided herself that she could jump from the tops of buildings –and fall down a few too– without too much trouble.  It had taken her four and a half years to know what her limitations were, and how she could use what she was capable of it its full extent.  The fact that the fall not only caused her alarm, but actually given her quite a few bruises in her favorite area, well, Nanai watch out.

  “Now that ladies done it!” Rempo growled.  Tia couldn’t agree more.

  Slowly she got up, just in case a bone might have been bruised but she doubted it.  The fall wasn’t _that_ long.

  “Well, Tia,” Rempo said through gritted teeth.  He seemed to be trying not to set the room on fire, and had to talk carefully as a result it seemed.  “we’d better find a way out of here.”

  Tia scowled at the room.  “I hate it when I have to play a game I don’t care for.” Then she spotted the water jugs and food crates.  Stomach first, escape later.

  Their little run through the witch’s hidden rooms were exceptionally easier than Gustav’s underground training area, although Tia discovered the hard way not to try to jump over the cracked and near bottomless manmade-chasms.  Rempo made his thoughts about a town built with so many underground passageways and how it was bound to fall very clear throughout the journey.

  When they reached the seventh room, they were surprised to see a surprisingly new helmet waiting for them.  Tia walked towards it, but when the creaking of the floorboards made it sound as if it were about to give, she wisely went around by hugging the walls.

  “Do you think someone else was down here?” she asked Rempo as she Code Scanned the helmet.

  “I doubt it.  Hey, come up here!” Rempo had found the fact that they would need to climb up the wall onto another platform much more interesting than the oddly placed helmet.  “There’s something written on the walls here!”

  Tia used a large air vent to get up onto the platform, and walked to where Rempo is.  On the wall he was talking about their were nearly unintelligible words.

  “M…m…magic?....boo…boo…book?  Magic Book?” Tia looked at Rempo.  “Would you suppose this magic book is _our_ magic Book?”

  Rempo bit his lip.  “Don’t trust that sorceress.  Let’s get out of here.”

  Tia looked around.  “How?” she asked just as she stepped on a magic square that had tactfully been laid out.

  Tia pushed her way through thick purple curtains and nearly fell over with the curtains on top of her as a result.  She shoved them away from her and looked around.  She was back on the first floor of Nanai’s shop and home.

  “We finally made it back.  Now,” Rempo looked around.  “where’d that woman go?”

  “I think she might be–” Tia stopped.  Just on the other side of the door she could hear a Soldier’s gate coming closer, closer, –

  * until they were inside the shop, spears pointed at her.



  “You must be Tia!” the one on the left said.

  The other one nodded.  “This is our culprit!  No mistaking it.”

  “You’re a Waisen spy!  We’re taking you in!  Now come quietly!”

  Tia looked at them.  They must be new to the life of a Soldier, by the way they shouted everything they said and how they made sure she could see their shiny armour.  Really, it made them look a bit pathetic.

  “Our king will pass judgment on you!” the first one continued.

  Rempo lifted his arms skywards.  “ _Now_ that lady’s done it!  _Again!!_ ”

  “Have you seen the witch that lives here?” Tia asked instead.  “She was here a moment ago and–”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve been staying in that witch’s home!” the second one said.

  “This is her home and I haven’t–”

  “So the rumors of her messing with black magic were true!” the first one said almost sadly.

  “What the heck is going on?!” Rempo yelled.  “Damn it!  I should burn the whole lot of them to a crisp!”

  Tia whirled around to Rempo.  “You most certainly will _not_ do that!  I know them, at least I know the younger one.  Don’t hurt them.  Please.”

  “Then, what do you propose we do?  Keep quiet and get arrested?” Rempo was angry, but he couldn’t do anything if Tia didn’t give a say so.  And he hated this feeling of helplessness as he let these people do whatever they pleased.  “Do something, Tia!”

  Tia turned back to the Soldiers.  “I will not be judged by you low boys in soldier costumes.  I demand you take me to our Holy King Xenonbart.  Only he can judge me.”

  She sounded much braver than she really felt, but she got a bit of satisfaction from the way their faces flushed at her jab at them.  They reached out to grab her arms but she pushed them off.

  “No need.  I have legs, and I can use them.” Imitating the gesture Princess Dorothea used on her earlier she said, “You may escort me now.”

  She could not believe that they actually did as she said.  Were they really that inexperienced?  Or were they truly afraid of her?  Tia did not want to know the answer.

 

***

  Nanai watched from her wooden balcony as the Soldiers, one in front and one in the back, led the girl toward the castle and she couldn’t help but feel some admiration for her.  She had been terrified when they came for her, but she put on face and made them treat her as a noblewoman instead of a criminal.

  “That was…a miracle.” She whispered to the wind.  The girl suddenly stopped and turned, as if she heard her.  Nanai pulled back into the shadows.  “That’s why it’s dangerous.  I did the right thing.  I did, I did.”

  The Soldier in the front turned around and pulled her ahead of them, forcing her to keep on moving.  She did not look back.

…“Right, Grandma?”

She was not sure she wanted to know the answer.

***

 

  Tia always wanted to see Frannelle castle up close, but if she had known the penalty for seeing it was being under arrest she probably would’ve never looked at it again.  Rempo shivered and drew himself closer to Tia as a tiny flame.

  “I don’t know about this place…I have a bad feeling about it.” He glanced around, more nervous than she had seen him before.  “Longing, pride, curses…they’re swirling around us!”

  “I think,” she whispered.  “that’s just politics.”

  She felt a flash of hear on her skin where Rempo was touching her.  “Not funny.” He said.  But when she glanced down at him he seemed to be slightly less tense and his funny smile was started to reappear.

  Tia thought about how even the most even tempered people could become rather mean if they began to overheat.  It must be worse for a spirit of fire.  She made note of that for later.  The castle was a sight to behold on the outside, sharp spires that could touch the sky, standing as a warrior does on the field.  It did not cringe inside its walls, for it was the wall.

  But oh, the _inside_ of the castle!

  Every wall gleamed, the rugs had such intricate detail weaved into them, and from a soup spoon to the chandeliers above, showed great care that only a master artisan could only hope to achieve.  Tia could’ve spent hours just staring at the hall alone, if the soldiers didn’t push her one forward.  While they walked, scullery maids and ordinary servants would stop and whisper and occasionally point at her.  She was glad to see that some of them that used to be her friends looked truly sorry for her, how silly they’ll feel when it’s explained it’s all a misunderstand!

  Who was she kidding?  It won’t be that simple at all.

  She now found herself in the Audience Chamber, set before the Holy King Xenonbart himself and the Princess Dorothea.  Silently she cursed at herself for not recognizing sooner the Princess, for her favor might be able to tip the scale of her punishment.

  “Ah!” Dorothea said.  “It’s you!”

  Tia bowed low and deep before the royal family.  “My Holy King.  My Princess.”

  Tia kept her head bowed as the soldiers related the tale of her so-called witchcraft, noting a number of half-truths and full out lies, but she kept her peace.

  “So you’re saying this child is a Waisen Empire spy?  Is that it?” King Xenonbart asked.  It was good to repeat the statement, it kept them from misunderstanding one another without any prose to get in the way.

  “Yes, sir!” the younger soldier said puffing out his chest.

  “As if!  That’s totally ridiculous!” Rempo scoffed.

  “They also say this traitor was seen associating with a Waisen soldier.  Black magic was also used on the scene.”

  “You fool!” Tia snapped at him.  “That Waisen soldier was attacking both me and the Princess!  Yes, I associated with him, my blade also associated itself with his innards.  Is that now a crime?  Protecting myself and the Princess from murder?  Is it?  _Is it?_ ”

  “And that so called black magic is called a miracle!” Rempo also said other things to the soldier, but those words are best not repeated.

  “Ah, now I remember you!” Tia said to the younger soldier who had down most of the talking.  “Jans, is it?  I hardly recognized you.  You’ve grown so fat and plump!  Have you learned to read?  Well, it doesn’t really matter, Fana still won’t give you the time of day even if you could read.”

  It was a risky move, calling him out like that.  But Tia felt like she had to say it.  A fair number of the Maids and Soldiers were those who wanted to be fed and comfortable, and saying you worked in the castle could almost guarantee that.  Tia never thought it was right that you would leave your family or work job that should really be for those who want to serve their country and to gain honor.  _Honor._   War was an honor, fighting was an honor, not dying in battle was an honor…this was not the way to rule a country.

  Jans face turned a queer shade of purple.  He turned back to the king.  “We also found the kid in the witch’s home!  Both her _and_ the witch must be Waisen spies!”

  “What sort of reasoning is that?!” Rempo exclaimed.

  “Wait a minute!  This kid isn’t from Waisen!” the Princess said.  They all turned to her.  Was she really to defend her?  “The Waisen monsters are totally a lot bigger!  And they look like a horse with a giant sickle!” she shuddered.  “It’s the most fearsome thing I’ve seen!”

  “She’s not much help.” Rempo commented.

  “That’s enough!” the Holy King commanded.  Silence fell over the chamber as everyone turned to him for judgment.  He walked down the steps from his throne until he was right across from Tia.  She shrank back, he was so much taller than the statue of him in the park!

  “Punishment for betrayal is death!  As the law says, your head will be hung on the castle gates!” he looked down at her, so small, so frail.  He turned to the soldiers.  “But could this young girl really be a traitor?”

  “I saw it for myself!!” Jans said, glaring at Tia.

  “You’re wrong!” Dorothea insisted.

  “No!  You were fooled!” added Rempo.

  “Listen to me!  The Holy King speaks!” silence fell once more.  “We are all children of this sacred kingdom.  Citizens of glorious Kaleila that’s prospered for 1,000 years!  I cannot make the grave error of passing judgment on an innocent.  One is innocent until proven guilty.  I am your Holy King Xenonbart!  A king of fairness and benevolence!”

  The older soldier, who had remained quiet throughout most of this, finally said, “As you wish, My Lord.  Shall we imprison the suspect…” he paused.  Then he smiled and continued, “…in the dungeon until the truth is known?”

  King Xenonbart gave a curt nod.  “Very well.”

  “Such a gracious king.  What a fine verdict!” Jans complimented.  “Historians will sing your praises, My Lord.”  
  King Xenonbart smiled.  “Good.  I leave the rest to you.” Laughing merrily, he left.

  Rempo shook his head in disgust.  “Is that really the king?  At least he can dress the part.”

  The Princess Dorothea descended down from her father’s throne and looked at Tia sadly.  “So you really don’t know about Prince Valdo?”

  “No, My Princess.  I have nothing to tell you.”

  Dorothea sighed and looked faraway into the distance.  “I heard he was attacked by an assassin and killed!  When I heard the news I nearly fainted on the spot.  But I’ve also heard word that he still lives!  It gets harder to sit still with each passing day.  All I want to know is the truth.”

  She blinked and looked around the chamber, only now aware that there were people there besides herself.  “Oh!  Don’t mind me!  I shouldn’t ramble on like this.” She looked over Tia with distaste.  “Hmph.  If you have no news for me, then I’m leaving!  And just so you know, I only stood up for you because you saved Guri Guri.  This makes us even!”

  Tia and Rempo watched her scurry off to her bedchamber, and only then did Tia mutter, “She only said that to save face.  Don’t be too angry with her.”

  “She’s still useless.  ‘Even’.  Pah!  Even my foot.” Rempo looked at the Princess with disdain, then nudged Tia.  “Those soldiers don’t look too happy.”

  “Now then,” the older soldier said.  “with our benevolent ruler gone, you can go straight to the dungeon!”  
  “Hey, no fair!  I knew this was going to happen!” Rempo yelled.

  “Yes,” Jans said grinning.  “You must know our king is a very busy man.  He often forgets about those he dumps in prison.  That means you’ll never get out!” he laughed at her, reminding Tia why it was that he was often considered a failure back in Gustav’s training.

  “Jans, can you please remind me of your last name?  Lickspittle, right?  Or was it Bootlicker?”

  The older soldier snickered, but Jans only grabbed her arms and dragged her down many hallways and through large oak doors until they reached the passageway to the dungeon.  A terrifying place, that spiraled downwards until you could no longer see the bottom.  He took her through a smaller doorway that lead into yet another passage and pushed her into one of the cells.

  “Jans, wait!” Tia cried out.

  He turned to her, hesitant.  “What?...Tia.”

  “When’s lunch?” she asked.

  He slammed the door in her face.

  Tia scowled at the door and called it a cretin.  She paced angrily around the room for a few moments until her anger finally subsided.  How foolish she was, she knew one of the soldiers was a boy who disliked her, and all she did was goad him on.  Now, thanks to her lack of sense, she and Rempo were thrown in prison.  Possibly forever.

  She looked at the fire spirit, now in a miniaturized form, but that didn’t miniaturize his glare that was directed to her.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t think.”

  He turned away from her and slammed one of his shackles against the wall.  A dent could be seen there for a moment, but it faded away.

  “Great.  What are we to do now?  If we stay in here forever, then the next world will be a jail cell!” he punched the wall again and again.  But no matter how hard he punched, the damage would just fade away again.

  Tia looked around the room.  It was rather barren, but it did have some furnishings in it: a pallet placed over a slab of stone to serve as a bed and a tiny table made of wood that was rotting.  She looked back over at the door, rather lightweight, but if they escaped through there they would be caught in minutes.  She glance back at the room.  Why was there a crate here?  It was a crate used by traders for carrying stock, but it was a crate from last trading season in the fall, and by the looks of it, it was empty to.

  “And don’t apologize either.  That bastard deserved every word of it.” Punch.  Punch.  “But we still need to get out, and quick!” Punch.  Punch.  “Maybe the Book of Prophecy can help us.” Punch.

  He pulled his arm back for another punch, but Tia ran up to him and grabbed his arm.

  “Hey!  What’re you doing?!” he yelled at her.  She could feel the shackles starting to burn, but she held on tight.

  “There’s no point in punching the wall, Rempo!  You’ll only make yourself angrier.  Please, just stop!”

  The two struggled for a time, and in the process Rempo burned the table and the pallet.  They only stopped when they heard a crash behind them that was not caused by them.  When they turned around they saw the oddest thing: the crate had been reduced to pieces of splinters, and in its place was a man’s head protruding out of the ground staring at them.

  “Pipe down in there!” the head said hoarsely.  The head then turned around and went down the hole.  A silence followed.

   Rempo was the one to break that silence.  “Tia, you saw that right?  Someone came out of that hole!”

  Tia couldn’t answer.  All she could do was gape and nod her head.

  “Maybe that’s a way out!  Now, leggo of my arm!” he said.

  “Well,- ow!” she yanked away from him and rubbed her hands together tenderly.  “That hurt!”

  “If you let go when I said so it wouldn’t have hurt.” Rempo said simply.  “Well, are we goin’ or not?”

  Tia rolled her eyes at him and looked down the hole.  “A ladder?” she looked at him.  He shrugged.  Slowly she made her way down the hole and found something even stranger: a room full of treasure!

  “Who the heck are you?” the little man said in a hoarse voice and strange accent.  “If you’re a criminal, then go back to your cell like you’re supposed to.”

  A strange man in a stranger place.  The man was older than many of the men that worked in the town center, and had more hair on his face than any of them.  His clothes were worn and not much to look at, but he had adorned himself with so many jewels and patched his clothes with such expensive cloth that it really didn’t seem to matter.

  “But sir, I’m not a criminal.” Tia explained as much of the situation to him as she could.  From the way Rex had reacted earlier to mention of the Book of Prophecy had not been much of a reassurance.

  The funny man didn’t speak throughout Tia’s explanation, but he seemed to be considering the weight of her words.

  When Tia finished her brief story she looked around the room.  “This is a truly amazing place. Is all this yours?”

  The man chuckled.  “I’m the true king of this castle.  Everything in it is mine.”

  “What’s your name, sir?  I think I’ve already told you mine.” Tia asked.  Names were a powerful thing, knowing a name to something or someone often made things more special or gave you power over it.  The flower names inside the Book proved that.

  “My name?...I abandoned it years ago.” He looked away from her.  “Call me whatever you like.”

  “Hey, Tia.” Rempo nudged her.  “Look at that crazy mop of hair.  Let’s call him ‘Fro’!”

  “Sir, may I call you…Fro then?”

  He looked up at her.  “Fro, huh?  Sure, call me whatever you like.” He looked at his hoard of treasure.  “This here castle is just a shell of its former glory.  Its unused rooms, forgotten passages, and hidden treasures…They _all_ belong to me!”

  “Wow.” Rempo said looking at Fro curiously.  “The old man sure knows a lot about the castle.” His eyes brightened as if lit by fire.  “He might even know a way out of here.”

  “I think you right.” Tia whispered.  In a louder voice she asked, “Fro, can you please tell me a way to get out of here?  Please?”

  “A way out?  Sure, I don’t mind helping.” He paused.  Then grinned.  “But it’ll cost you.”

  Tia sighed.  She expected that much.  
  “Calm down.  No need to overreact.  My favorite hat is hidden somewhere along this path.  If you can find it, I’ll show you the way out of here.  But be careful,” he warned.  “There are swarms of monsters around.”  
  Tia thanked him and went down the passage.  Going through the unused passageway was almost dreamlike, in a nightmarish kind of way.  Ghosts, zombies, and bats the size of small dogs had made themselves quite comfortable down in those pipes, and were not happy in the slightest to be disturbed.  Rempo mercilessly teased Tia for her dislike of the zombies by taking his sweet time over which of the two passages they should go down.

  “The one on the right?  Or the one on the left?  Hm.”

  “Oh for the love of—Left!”

  It turned out that left was the right choice.  Fro’s hat was down that passage.

  “Good.  Now lets get out of here!”  
  Rempo laughed.  “The great Chosen One.  This is just too good!”

 

***

  Tia handed over Fro’s hat to him.

  “Not bad, kid.  All right, I’ll tell you the way out.” He tossed the hat into the pile of treasure and guided her to the mouth of the passage.  “A path leads from here to the fields.  Take this path as far as it goes.  You’ll come upon a hidden room built beneath the cemetery.  If you climb out of that room, you’ll be in the cemetery.  Open the door near the back that will lead you to the fields.  But you’ll need a key to open it.  I’ve hidden the key somewhere in the cemetery.  Before you ask which grave, I’ll tell you simply that you’ll have to find it on your own.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to defile any of the graves.”

  “Let’s go, Tia!” Rempo said, already tugging her back down the passage.  “We’re almost home free!”

  “Yes, alright.  Thank you, Fro!” Tia waved at him as she ran back down the passage.

***

  Tia pushed the stone slab to the side and hesitantly poked her head out.  No one was there.  Phew.

  Carefully she got out and put the slab back in place.  The grave she and Rempo just came out of was Willham ‘Fro’ Jameson’s.

  Tia walked around examining each gravestone, looking for the key.  “Do you think he was telling the truth?  That we don’t have to harm the graves?”

  “What, you scared?”

  “No, I just don’t want to be disrespectful.” Tia nodded her head to the inventor Twebchy’s gravestone.  “They lived good lives.  They should be treated with the respect they would get in the world of the living.  Ah!  There it is.” She walked up to a gravestone marked for some woman named Mutas and Code Scanned the key that was on top of it.

    “Did you get the key?” Rempo asked as he reappeared next to her.  “Then let’s get out of this town and head to the woods.  We have to find Mieli and the others!”

  “Mieli?” Tia asked.  “Who’s this Mieli?”

  “Huh?  Haven’t I told you?  Mieli is another of the Spirits from the Book of Prophecy.

  “I don’t think you’ve mentioned that yet.” Tia puffed.  “Are there many more Spirits?”

  “There are a total of four Spirits in the Book of Prophecy.  First there’s  Mieli, Spirit of the Forest.  You can never tell what that naïve girl is thinking.  Then there’s Neaki, the Ice Spirit.  She’s pretty gloomy and cold.  Ur is the Lightning Spirit.  He’s smart, but he loves to preach.  Last but certainly not least…the great Fire Spirit Rempo!” he struck a pose, making her laugh.  He grinned at her.  “Did you get all that?” he sighed.  “If it weren’t for these shackles, I could unleash incredible power.  Oh well.  All right, then.  Let’s get out of this town!”

  Tia nodded.  “I know that there’s a forest on the other side of Grana.  We can head in that direction.” She looked up at the sky.  “If we’re lucky, we can get there by nightfall.  I also have a friend who goes by there sometimes to pick flowers.”  
  Rempo nodded.  “Yeah, we can ask her if she knows anything.”

  Tia blushed.  “My friend…is a _he._ ”

  Rempo looked at her.  Then he pulled his head back and laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

  Grana Orless, or Grana Plains as its been called as of late, is the calmest and most serene place in all of Kaleila.  One could travel many leagues through it and easily get lost.  Strangely enough, no one minds this, unless they are incredibly foul tempered.  It was probably because of these foul tempered people that the Holy King Xenophon had set up stations and set up trails and road ways for travelers and merchants to use and not become lost in the plains.  After a time, however, these posts were abandoned with no explanation and with Draught of Frimaire in year 221, the trails eventually began to fade away, leaving merchants and travelers on their own way.  Still, there were many landmarks made in retaliation, both natural made and man made, to help any weary traveler find their way.

  Our hero were in dire need of these landmarks, and were blessed for finding the most famous of all Grana landmarks.

 

* * *

 

  “How much farther do we have to go?” Rempo complained.  “I thought we’d be there by now!”  
  “Hold on, I’ll check.” Tia said as she sat on top of the ancient ruins.  She herself had never been this far out into Grana, and had only heard about these ruins from the easter merchants and traders that  often came for trade during the messidor season.  She turned the page in the Book.  “These ruins have always been a land mark, even before Grandma Helen was born.  Amazing.  I wouldn’t have guessed for them to be so old...  ah, here we go!  If we head on the north route we should reach the Granatum Forest in about a half hour or so.  Well, this will be fun.  I’ve heard that this is the time of the year raptors start to wake up.”

  “Or so?  Raptors?  Brilliant.” Rempo said as he flew around the ruins.  “Y’know, I think I recognize these ruins!  They were leftovers from the last world.  Weird.  Didn’t think things this large usually crossed over.  Hey, are you paying attention to me?”

  “Mmhmm.” Tia said.  She closed the Book and looked at him.  “Are you ready to move on ahead?”

  Rempo rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, let’s go.  And by the way, I hope those giant wasps sting you good for not paying attention to me.”

  “Mmhmm.  Yes, that’s nice.  Interesting.”

  He glared at her.

  “Oh, relax.  You know I’m teasing.” She jumped down and brushed herself off before she continued to walk north.  “I never realised that those ruins were that ancient.  Do you suppose that the ruins near Sunny Hill that are connected to Frannelle Castle, um, ‘crossed over’ too?”

  “Maybe.” Something seemed to trouble Rempo, but he was hardly in the mood to share with her.  Instead she tried changed the subject.  But before she could, they could hear footsteps and shouts coming their way!

  “Dammit!” Rempo cursed.  “I thought we’d have more of a head start.  Get ready to fight, Tia!”

  “That doesn’t sound like a soldier’s gait.” Tia pointed out.  “In fact, it sounds more like –”

  Before she could finish, a young man ran past them.  He was wearing his trademark hat, and such brightly coloured clothes that any enemy could have easily spotted him and shot him down.

  “–Duran.” She finished.  “Oh bother.”

  The young man stopped and turned around.  From the sweat that stuck to his face and his clothes, he had probably been running for quite a while now, although his clothes were made from wool and it was now spring, so it could’ve been just from overheat.

   “Ah, it’s just you.” He said relieved.  “Nice to see you.”

  “Same to you, Duran.” She said politely.  “How are things?”

  “Oh I can’t complain.” He said smiling.  He seemed to remember something important just then.  “Wait a sec!  I don’t have time to stop and shoot the breeze!”

  “Be careful Tia,” Rempo warned eyeing Duran’s rapier.  “if they already know you’ve escaped, then he might be here to take you back.”

  “Don’t worry,” Tia whispered.  “Duran’s a good person.  Plus, I don’t think they really care enough to check up on me in a few hours.” She directed her attention back to Duran, “What’s wrong, Duran?  Why can’t you ‘shoot the breeze’?”

  But he wasn’t paying attention to her.  Instead, he seemed to be more concerned with something behind her.  Confused, Tia turned around and saw in the distance a Goblin coming their way.

  She looked back at him.  “Duran, what did you do this time?”

  “Nothing!” he said in an offended tone.  “I just wanted to keep their numbers in check, that’s all.  Then that one, I guess he’s like their leader or something, started getting _really_ angry and–” he stopped suddenly and blanched.  “Not good.”

  Tia looked back again and saw that the Goblin was almost here, brandishing his club at them angrily.

  “You’d better run, too!  They’re Goblins Tia!  And they’re mega-strong!  You better leave this to me.”

  “A measly Goblin?” Rempo scoffed.  “We can handle them!”

  Tia nodded in agreement with Rempo.  After they had fought two hoards of Goblins, plus the fact that they no longer were made of Stone Codes, made fighting them remarkably easy.

  “Wait, you’re not actually going to _fight it_ are you?” Duran asked her when she pulled out her two gladius swords.  “I-I wouldn’t, if I were you.”

  “I have to, Duran.” She said not even turning around.  “If he’s such a threat to you, he’s an even bigger threat to all of us back in the town.  It must be stopped.”

  “I…I see.  You won’t turn your back away to an enemy.  Y-you sure are brave.  I wish I were…” he paused for a moment, then seemed to regain his vigor all of a sudden.  “No wait, that’s right!  I’m a hero, too!  I can’t keep running all the time!”

  He drew out is rapier and charged at the Goblin shouting.

  And he got pushed back.  Again.  And again.  And again.  Every time he charged the beast, it would smack him back, only for him to get back up and charge it again.

  “Talk about weak.” Rempo muttered.  “I bet his Codes are nothing but Iron.”

  “He’s determined,” Tia said in his defense.  “When he puts his mind to it, he won’t stop until he finishes it.”

  “Or he dies.”  
  “Or that.”

  Tia looked at Duran forlornly.  Her throat burned to make a statement in his defense, but from all she knew and learned about him, none of it could make a valid argument against the Fire Spirit.  All she could do was allow him to feel like he was protecting her, like a hero would.  Duran struggled to get back on his feet.  She couldn’t let him go on like that any longer.

  “Duran,” she began as she ran up to him to help him up.  “let me help you.”

  “No!” he insisted pushing her off.  “I’ve still got my trump card!”

  “Trump card?” she said.

  “His what?” Rempo said looking down at him from his viewpoint above.

  “Judgment link!” Duran shouted.  But instead of charging like he had been, he stood completely still and let the Goblin come to him.  Just as it was raising its club to strike him down, probably for the final time, Duran put his rapier underneath it and tossed it up into the air with amazing strength.

  “Whoa.” Rempo said.  Tia agreed.  Who knew that Duran had such strength in him?

  “How do you like that?” he said as he tossed it higher and higher into the air.  He turned to grin at her.  “Pretty cool, eh?”

  He shouldn’t have turned around.

  The Goblin landed on its feet, dazed, but not dead.  And all Duran had done now was make it even angrier.  Duran seemed to notice the look on Tia’s face because he finally turned around.

  “D’oh–” he was able to get out before the Goblin hit him again.

  Rempo shook his head.  “Boy, oh boy... how pathetic…But I think that move could be pretty useful.  What did he call it?  Judgment Link?  Tia, you give it a try, too!”

  Tia nodded but first made sure that Duran was okay.  He seemed to be muttering something about purple being a fruit, but other than that, he was fine.  She turned to the Goblin.

  “How does it work, Rempo?”

  “Catch the enemy off guard and use the power that comes from within you and your weapons to lift it off the ground.  Either attack it from behind or while its attacking!  Those are your best bets.  Juggle your enemy with your arms, don’t ever forget to use your core Mana.  That’s the life force your emit!  Just remember, if you switch which arm you use to juggle him, it’ll keep him low to the ground instead of sky high.  Once the limit of Mana has been reached, he’ll go off like fireworks!  You might get more Mana from this and more health too!  But it won’t work on humans, only against monsters.  Hurry, Tia!”

  Tia had seen some tournaments played in the arena, but she herself had never participated in any.  Nevertheless, the constant movement of Mana through her body into her weapons and forcing it upon her opponent came so naturally to her as if, as if…

_…as if it had been done before, Hero._

 

  She watched the clouds with mixed feelings as the Goblin exploded from the overdose of Mana.  It was good that they were no longer a threat, but it was also sad for Tia knowing that they died a rather painful death.

  “Sweet!  We win!” Duran said cheerfully.  He got up too quickly, and would’ve fell over if Tia hadn’t caught his arm and steadied him.

  He stepped backward from her and made quite the show of him sheathing his sword like they do for plays back in Rhoan.

  Rempo was not amused.

  “That _jerk!_   What a sneak…” he said.  Tia was happy that he seemed to be restraining himself a bit, but she doubted he’d stay quiet for very long afterwards.

  “Boy,” Duran sighed, averting Tia’s attention from Rempo.  “that was a close one!  It’s a good thing we had Judgment Link.  Have you been practicing to compete in the tournament since I last saw you, Tia?  That was nice…for your age.”

  “Wait a sec.  There’s a Judgment Link _tournament_?!” Rempo back wheeled.  “This is supposed to be a sacred ritual for the purification of monsters!” he continued to fume for a few moments but when he realised that Tia was watching him with actual concern, he simmered himself down.  “…oh well.  More importantly, Tia…the Judgment Link move will surely be helpful in the future.  So be sure to master it!”

  She smiled, relieved.  She turned back to Duran.  “So, Duran.  What have you been up to lately?  Anything good happening?”

  He chuckled and tipped his hat to her.  “Nothing much.  Monsters around.  Not enough heroes.  A _lot_ of angry monsters.  But besides that, nothing.”

  “Why were you out here?  It’s more dangerous the farther away from any town.  And you don’t seem like you were on a monster hunt.” She looked pointedly at his beat up rapier.

  “No, actually I came to pick flowers that look good in my hat.  I do this every day, you know.” He took it off his head and held it out for her to see.  “Aren’t they awesome?”

  Rempo muttered something under his breath, but didn’t say it too loud.

  “The recent rise in monsters had made it…a little bit tough.  But I really need these flowers.” He said putting the hat back on his head.  “they’re befitting a hero like myself, don’t you agree?”

  “Good grief.  What a wannabe hero.” Rempo looked at Tia beseechingly.  “let’s leave him and get out of here.”

  “Well, it’s been…fun, Duran.” Tia said kindly.  “But I have to leave now.  It’s getting dark and I wanted to reach a safe place in Granatum before then.  Have a good night.  Good-bye.”

  “Wait, you’re not seriously going into the forest are you?” he asked.  “It’s crawling with monsters!  And human-hating dwarves!  And mud!”

  “Sounds like fun!  We’ll have ourselves a nice little cook-out!” Rempo said.

  “I’m sorry if this worries you, Duran.  But I must go in there.  I hope to see you again soon.” She bowed to him and continued on north.

  “W-w-wait!” Duran called out.  But she didn’t even look back.  “Fine, then!  Don’t come crying to me when things get ugly for you!”

  He watched her go, and silently he cursed himself.  How will he ever explain letting her go?  To his father, whom had promised to watch over her?  Or to Rex…

  “Oh good Gods.  Rex is going to enjoy killing me tonight.”


	8. Chapter 8

  Tia walked and walked and walked.  Things weren’t going well, at least not in her opinion.  She had been accused of witchcraft, killed two Waisen Knights–albeit monster Knights– , and now she had shrugged off Duran, who had always been nothing but kind to her.  Plus, they kept walking and there were no forests yet!

  “This is stupid.” Rempo said reflecting both of their thoughts.  “We should have been there by now.  Where is it?  Could we have gotten side tracked by that boy?  For the love of- where is it?  You’d think it be hard to miss a damn forest.”

  Part of her wanted to agree with him, say that he’s right, it is stupid.  They could easily just turn around and go back…provided that they didn’t get even more lost than they already were.

_Be strong, Hero.  You will not be alone.  But you must go forward._

  “Let’s rest here.” Rempo suggested.  “We’ll probably feel better after we sleep on it.”

  But Tia shook her head.  “What good will it do?  Look around us.  You can see for miles in any direction.  Look over there: you can almost make out the Monolith on Sunny Hill.  If we rest here and they know we’ve escaped, then they’ll be able to find us in no time.  We might as well just keep on going.” She looked around once more and sighed.  “Although I suppose we’ll have to stop eventually.  We’re losing more light by the minute.”

  “No we’re not.” Rempo said.  “Come on, Tia.  Let me loose.  I can do it.  There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  Tia hesitated.  Truthfully, she was afraid of unleashing Rempo’s power.  It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, because she did strangely enough, but when all your life you’re watching soldiers move about and talk about ways to destroy their enemies with fire being a preferred choice you become somewhat hesitant.

  Luckily she didn’t have to make the decision just then.  Since they now were noticing hills, and as they passed some of them, they saw –

  “Granatum!” Tia cried out in joy.  “Finally, we’re here!”

  “Yes!” Rempo said throwing around his arms.  “Mieli, hang on!  We’re gonna bust you outta there!”

  They ran down the hills, so happy to finally see something so vastly different from Grana, only to stop dead in their tracks.

  “Oh, dammit,” Rempo cursed.  “more Goblins again?”

  “And they’re bigger too.” Tia said taking in the size of one of them.

  “And uglier too.” Rempo added at the sight of the moss growing off of their body.

  “Uh, Rempo?” Tia said starting to back away before they were noticed.  “Why is one of them…glowing?”

  “Huh?  Oh.  That means that it’s invincible.”

  “Perfect.”

  “But only the Code!  It always has a specific weakness, find that Code, and it’s weak again!”  
  “Great…Do I have to do that right now?”

  Rempo looked at the Goblins.  They were barbaric in nature, but vaguely human otherwise.  Right now it looked like some sort of Rite of Passage, so any disturbance, particularly a human one, would probably be unwelcome.

  “Nah, let’s just try and find a place that doesn’t have animals that want to eat us nearby.”

  “I’d like to avoid man-eating plants while we’re at it.” The girl and Spirit roamed around for a while, examining things that interested them and running from enemies they couldn’t defeat without some light.

  After a while they found a large river blocking their way.

  “Any idea how deep it is?” Rempo said looking at it uneasily.

  “Yeah.  Deeper than I am tall.” Tia responded after looking through the Book.  “From what the Book says, this is probably the best place we’ll find.”

  “What does the Book say?” Rempo asked.

  “Not much really.” Tia admitted.  “But it does talk about eating lunch and sleeping with the forest animals, so I guess we don’t have much to worry about in this section of Granatum.  Let’s follow the river a bit more towards the east though, it looks like there might be some sort of bridge for us to cross.”

  Turned out the bridge was the trunk of an ancient tree that had fallen probably centuries ago.  Tia carefully walked to the other side of the river through the trunk, but it turned out to be relatively stable.  When they reached the opposite bank, they continued to follow the bank back west to the section described as ‘safe’ until they found a large and flat topped boulder that seemed like a good resting place.

 

***

  “Rempo, where’d you go?  I need your glow.” Tia called out.  She had been fishing for the past hour or so and had had some good results, but she couldn’t do anything unless the Fire Spirit was there.

  The moment the sun had went down, Rempo began to set off his sort of… ‘glow’.  It wasn’t at all a good enough description for what was going on, but neither Rempo nor Tia were very good with describing things to other people.  Finally the Fire Spirit returned to her, awkwardly carrying twigs and sticks and the like.

  “What are you doing?  Here, let me help–oh bother.” She said to him, taking the greenery out of his arms and losing her self-made fishing pole at the same time.  “Never mind.”

  “I think we can use this to start a nice fire.” He said simply.

  “Rempo, I –”

  “Listen, Tia.” He grew into his human-sized form and stared at her in the eye.  “I’m going to tell you something I probably shouldn’t.  It’ll cause nothing but problems for both of us, but I’m not liking the alternative.  So you’re going to listen to me for a change and not back talk.  Got it?”

  Tia looked at him surprised by his sudden seriousness and a tad bit worried, but she nodded anyway and encouraged him to go on.

  He took a deep breath.  “I’m not smart.”

  She stared at him.  “Okay…there’s nothing wrong with that.  At least you can admit it.  Good for you Rempo.”

  He smiled a bit then.  “No, that’s not all.  And don’t ever tell anyone that I said that, by the way.  I’m not smart, that’s always been Ur’s territory, but I’ve always thought that the only way to remove are shackles are by trust.”

  “Your shackles?” Tia asked.  She didn’t know why, but she didn’t think this conversation would be leading to this.

  Rempo nodded.  “I can’t tell you everything, protocols and all that, but they basically act as a power limiter.  Among other things.”

  “I don’t suppose those are the things you can tell me about.”

  “No.  I’m sorry Tia, really I am.  But I just can’t tell you about the way things work.  Trust me, it screws with the head.  But there is a way to get us Spirits unshackled, but it’s risky.”

  “What?  What is it?  How can I help?”

  “Heh.  That’s almost cute how you want to help millennia old Spirits.  It’s trust, Tia.  That’s the thing that can either guarantee an enlightened world, or a world doomed to fail from the start.  But it’s hard Tia.  It’s hard to trust someone who can die so easily, or someone that simply _can’t_ tell you everything, even if they want to.  So we need to take small steps.  Careful steps.  And I’m not good at either of those.  But if I’m willing, then you should be too.  Help me start a fire.”

  Tia didn’t respond.  This was obviously something that could change the whole dynamic of something, but she didn’t know what it could change.  What _would_ it change?  Her future relationship with the Spirits?  The outcome of the world she was tasked with creating?  Or something else entirely, something she can’t even hope to comprehend?

_Trust him.  He is a good and noble sort of Spirit._

  She took a deep breath and sighed.  “How do we make a fire?  I’m sorry, but I’m not very good at this.  Plus, how do we control it?  We can’t burn down the whole forest just for practice.”

  Rempo looked wounded.  Insulted even.  “You’re thinking of destructive fire.  There’s more to it than that.”

  “Really?  How so?”

  “Tia, you’ve got to think!  I’m not good at it, so you have to!” he leaned in closer to her face.  “Listen to me: you have a hearth at home, right?  Think.  When you kindle the fire, do you think of destruction?  Chaos?  Wildfires?  No.  You think of warmth, comfort, and people around you.”

  “How did you know that?” she asked.  The were nose to nose now, just staring at each other.

  “I’m a Spirit.  I know things.  Especially about my field of work.” he pulled back and stared at the pile.  “Now then.  Normally all I need is an ‘OK’ from you to unleash my power, but I want you to concentrate with me.  This will deplete a lot of Mana, so be ready.”

  Tia also stared at the pile and nodded.  She didn’t have to concentrate hard about it; whenever she thought of fire she always thought about the hearth back home, but with Rempo…when he first described his power to her earlier that day, she had only just woken up from a dream, and she had automatically connected the images of a burning world with him but now she had to cast those first thoughts away and connect him with her earliest memories:

  “Rempo…I unleash your power.” She whispered.

  The pile of twigs and leaves burst into flames and miraculously stayed that way.

  “All right!” Rempo cheered.  “We did it!  Tia?  Tia?  Are you okay?”

  But she couldn’t hear him…she was already somewhere far away….

***

A crimson sky…

  She was standing atop of a tower she did not know, looking down upon a world she’d never seen, and saw it being consumed by flames. An old man beside you opened his mouth to speak; “Time has expired for this world, but the records of this book shall create the next...”

  No, not her.  Him.  The man she was standing next to, he was talking to him, but also her as well.  She felt a tug within herself, pulling her toward the man, _becoming the man_ until she could no longer define where his thoughts began and where hers ended.  Strange, their thoughts were different in dialogue, but still the same…she was beginning to forget she was separate.

Him.

Her.

He.

She.

_Us._

  We are the Chosen One.  This is our World and our World to be.  This is our God.  Speak to him.  But he was also her.  But who was her?  God.  And Tia.

  She felt the tug in her stomach again, forcing her out of the disturbing dream and forward back into Rhoan, where she saw a ragtag bunch of boys she recognized as the boys that tried to bully her into going into the abandoned house down in the Back Alleys four years ago.  They weren’t so high and mighty now, weeping and wailing about seeing a ghost in there.  Next to Tia’s side was Meenya, crying.

  “All I did was ask them to play.  Why’d they run?  Why?  Meenya didn’t mean to scare them that much, honest!” she looked up at Tia.  “Meenya never plays the demon, was Meenya too good of a demon, Tia?”

 

***

  “…Tia!  Tia!  Tia!  _Tia!_ ” a voice shouted, coming closer and louder with each word.  Tia felt a flash of heat across her fingers.

  “Ow!” she cried, drawing her hand back.  She blinked.  She didn’t know where she was, not home, or anywhere in Rhoan that she recognized, then she remembered.  Granatum.  “Rempo?”

  “Finally!” he said relieved.  “I don’t know what happened.  Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I-I think I had one of those…future visions you told me about.” She said trying to catch her breath.  “I saw Meenya…and…everyone thinks she’s a demon…or something…” she told him all she saw that was about Meenya.

  What a hypocrite she turned out to be.  Didn’t they just agree they could trust each other?  Why couldn’t she just tell Rempo about the first vision she had?  Maybe it was because of the same reason she couldn’t tell anyone about the nightmares she had before the Book of Prophecy.  This vision felt exactly like them, only…it felt ancient, with the colours and sound not being as sharp as before.  And who was the old man?  Was it the same voice she heard on Sunny Hill?  And who was that man, the one whom she shared a body and mind with?  Was he the creator of her world, or someone else entirely, from a messenger of the old man, or a potential enemy?

  There were too many questions and not enough answers to satisfy Tia.  But telling Rempo seemed like a stupid move.  So instead she ignored the nagging feeling of guilt in her mind and focused on making the Meenya vision the only thing she saw.

  “I’ve never heard of a future vision doing something like this before.” Rempo said.  “I guess it’s just because you’re not used to it yet, but still.  Are you sure that’s all you saw?  Maybe you’re not used to using your Mana and that’s what went wrong.  What do you think?”

  “What _is_ Mana?  I don’t understand that.” She said ignoring the first question.

  “Mana, like the Book, goes by lots of different names; depending on the time, culture and world.  It could be your magic, stamina, willpower, your soul–”

  “You’re draining my soul?!”

  “Relax, relax!  These are all just different names you people call it.  Not the actual thing.  Mana is just what we Spirits prefer to call it, that’s all.”

  “So it’s not my soul?”

  “I dunno how humans think.  I’m just telling you what it’s normally called.” He paused for a minute.  “I personally think it’s closer to humans will to live though.”

  “The will…to live?”

  “That’s right.  Humans are amazing that way, at least that’s what I think.  When all else fails, a person will do anything they can, just to keep themselves or others around them alive.  Mana, in my opinion, is the strength within someone to go farther, go the extra distance, that kind of stuff.”  
  “What do the other Spirits think?”

  “Ah, we’ve all got our own opinion, I’m more amazed when we all can agree on something.  Mieli thinks Mana is how in touch someone is with their inner self, Neaki thinks Mana is how one makes decisions, and Ur thinks it’s how close someone is with their religion.  I think I’m right though.”  
  Tia stared at him for a long time.  Personally, none of those made any sense, to her Mana seemed more about the amount of magic one was gifted with, not the person itself acted.

  Finally, she said, “You’re smarter than you let on, Rempo.”  
  He grinned at her.  “You haven’t looked at my page in the Book yet, have you?”

  “N-no!” Tia said indignantly.  “That’s because…it’s an invasion of privacy!”

  “Says the girl who pokes through people’s houses.”

  “That’s for the Book though!  The more I learn, the more powerful the Book becomes, right?  You told me that.”  
  “Ah, but what about people?  People’s perspective of the world around them can power the Book too.  And the only way to help people with their problems and…stuff is to read about them!  The more you know, the better!  Geez, I’m sounding more and more like Ur…Anyway, open the Book and go to my page.” He said in a matter of finality.

  “Pushy.” She muttered as she flipped through pages.  She paused at her own page.  “Rempo, why is my page so different from the rest?”

  “Because you’re the Chosen One.”

  “Informative.”

  “Oh, please.  Do I have to spell it out for you?”

  “With small words, please.”

  “You’re the Chosen One!  If you could change your page, then you wouldn’t be the same Tia, you’d be different.  And not the one that was chosen.  There was a reason its you, and if you changed…I don’t like it.  I’m still trying to get used to you, how could you expect me to get along with a different you, or someone else entirely?” he fidgeted.  “If it makes you feel better, you can’t change mine or the other Spirits pages either.  We need to stay the same.  That’s just how it works.”

  “Helpful.  Thanks.”

  “Look, if you want an in-depth explanation, wait until we find Ur; he’ll tell you all you want to know and more.  And then you’ll want to listen to me again!”

  “Isn’t there an alternative?”

  “Hey!”

  “I’m kidding.  Here, we’re already at your page.” She looked at it and began to read aloud.  “‘Rempo.  Looks like a boy with horns.  Runs amuck all the time, even with bound arms.’”  
  “Sounds good.  But keep going.”

  “‘His temper flares and cools quickly, and when mad, he’ll rush without a second–’”

  “No, wait.  Skip to the end, that’s what I really want you to read.”

  “Fine…The last paragraph, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Okay.  ‘Has the duty of bringing fire, passion, summer, vigor, destruction, and invention to the new world.’”

  “Exactly.  And that’s why I love fire so much.”  
  “You do?  Even the part about destruction?”

  He looked at her with a strange sort of sadness.  “There’s always destruction, Tia.  It’s like the fire in your hearth.  It gives you warmth and comfort, but if provoked it could burn down your entire house.  I can’t change that about myself: a part of me will always be wild, loose, and want to destroy everything.  It’s the same with people too; a part of them will always want to see something suffer, be it a truly despicable person, or an innocent.”

  Tia was silent for a long time, and when she finally spoke, her voice was almost as quiet as the trees.  “I thought the Book was made to help achieve a true enlightenment.”

  “It is!  When people reach that enlightenment, they will still have that ‘wild fire’ in them, but when they have it within them but don’t loose control of it, and use it for the way a fire should be used, then they are enlightened.  Simple as that.”

  “How should fire be used, then?”  
  “Invention.” His voice went as quiet as hers, his mind going somewhere far away.  “That’s why I’m always the first Spirit.  I’m not smart, I can’t come up with stuff the way Ur can, but I can get it done.  Invention is why I love humans so much.  They are always nothing more than animals at first, but once they experience fire, then they learn.  Man made cities, glorious utopia’s, think deep thoughts, improve themselves, all because of fire.”

  “You’ll have to help me out there, Rempo.  I’m not seeing a connection.”

  He looked at her, a fire in his eyes.  Excitement.  “Don’t you see?  If I wasn’t around, man would still be living like animals.  The moment I come into their lives they figure things out that they never could have without me.  The others always follow me.  I can’t take credit for the _idea_ ’s behind the invention, but unlike Ur, I can get it done.”

  “I’m guessing you don’t like Ur, then?”

  “Mah, he’s okay I guess.  We kinda need each other.  Without him, there’s no ideas or thoughts to make things, then I can’t do anything.  But without me, that’s all they are: ideas.  Things left undone.  I don’t like it, but we need each other.  All of us.  Neaki, Mieli, Ur, and of course me.  We can kill each other for dominance, or we can rise each other to power.  It’s all up to the person.”

  “You mean me?”

  “I mean all people.  Elves, Dwarves, Giants and Humans.  We are the personification of those actions, and we live within each one.  The Book wants all species to find an inner balance within themselves.  At least, that’s how Mieli described it.  She’s flowery with her words, so I don’t get most of it.”

  Tia smiled and yawned.

  “It’s late, you need to sleep.”  
  “What about you?”

  “I can go into the Book.”  
  “It’ll get too cold.”  
  “Aren’t you worried I’ll burn the whole place down?”

  “Yes, but if I’m warm then I won’t care as much.”

  Rempo laughed.  “Alright, I’ll stay out.  Just sleep, okay?”

  “Okay.” Tia agreed.  She buttoned up her jacket and curled into a ball, and was fast asleep in only a few minutes.  Soon, Rempo joined her in sleep.

 

***

 

  “…Rempo!  Rempo!  Rempo!  _Rempo!_ ” a high pitched voice shouted.

  “Hunh?  What?” the Fire Spirit opened his eyes and was startled by the bright light.

  Tia giggled.  “C’mon, we’ve got a whole day to explore Granatum, and I want to get a head start.  We’ve got to find Mieli, remember?”

  “Granatum…Mieli?  Mieli!  That’s right, we’ve got to go!” He flew right up and raced straight to the tree bridge.

  “Wrong way.”

  “Well, which way then, Miss Smarty-Skirt?”

  She looked around and opened the Book.  “How about…past the poison ivy vines?  You can burn them down.”

  He grinned.  “I like that idea.  Let’s go that way!” he flew west.

  “Wrong way.”

  “Let’s go the other way!” he said as he flew east.

  The hero and Spirit then travelled many different parts of the vast forest, having to back track numerous times, using the river as a basic landmark.

  “We’re not going to find Mieli near the river,” Rempo pointed out after the third time they lost their way.  “We’ve got to move farther away.”

  Tia nodded and pulled out his bookmark and put it on the map page they were currently.  They continued onward, moving farther and farther away from the river.  After upsetting a hornets nest and discovering that pretty flowers are to be avoided if they are taller than you, they came upon the base of a large cliff.

  “I didn’t know there were cliffs here,” Tia said wiping sweat off her brow.  “I guess Granatum’s end is at the Mountains.”

  “Tia, look!” Rempo gestured to the right a few meters away from them.  “I think I see a door.”

  “A door?  Impossible…and I stand corrected.” She said as they walked over to investigate.

  Indeed it was a door, albeit different from most.  It seemed to have been carved out of the side of the cliff centuries ago, and had apparently been blocked by a boulder not long after.

  Tia lifted her hand and touched it.  Faintly, a green square appeared above it, with three arrows pointing upwards on it.  When she drew her hand back, where her hand had touched it a keyhole appeared.

  “It’s sealed with a Forest Code.  Don’t worry, Tia.  That seal won’t keep us out.” Rempo assured her.  “Just insert the same Code into the key.  That rule applies when you have more than one Code, by the way.  Just add as many as required.  Understood?”

  “Yes, but–”

  “Good, now open it, Tia!”

  “Pushy Spirit is what they should call you.” Tia muttered as she moved Codes around.  “Here we go!  One Forest Small Key, coming right up!  Hmm?  The Book says this leads to the…Kalcazoth Caves?  I’ve never heard of them.” She frowned.  She didn’t like not knowing things, but then again, geography had been one of her worst subjects and she only knew what she knew because of all the times she stole newspapers when she was still learning to read.  She made a personal note to change that as soon as she got back home.

  She pulled the small key out of the Book and looked at it with interest as it now had a vine design on its shaft and an almost leafy look for its bit.  She put the key into the lock and turned, making the boulder obediently roll over to the side.

  “You ready?”

  “Yep.  Let’s go.  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll get lucky and see a Minotaurus again.”

  “Let’s not hold our breath.”

  Together, they walked into the Kalcazoth Cave.


	9. Chapter 9

  “I hate Minotaurus’.” Tia said bitterly.  “They’re cows, aren’t they?  Then why in the name of the gods do they live in caves?”

  “They live in the cave just to annoy you, Tia.”  Rempo chuckled.  He floated through the air of the first cave entrance loftily, enjoying himself.

  Tia wanted to start to argue with him, but she didn’t have much energy left for that.  Instead, she asked him, “Do remember what day we came to Granatum?  I’m trying to think how long we’ve been here.”

  “I dunno.  Maybe a week?  Week and a half?”

  “Oh.” She turned slightly to the left, in the direction Rhoan possibly was.  “Has it already been more than a week?”

  “Oh, don’t bother with them, Tia.” Rempo said.  “They’re all boring people.”

  “I just can’t believe it’s been so long already.  Not much really happened in that time.”

  “Not much?  _Not much?_ ” Rempo stopped and looked at her surprised.  “Tia, look at all you learned!  You’ve been figuring out how to use the Book so quickly!  Plus, you’ve really gotten to know Granatum, which will make Mieli really happy when you meet her.”

  This was true.

  “And the Book has gotten lots of information and has risen in value a lot, you call that ‘not much happening’?”

  Tia smiled a little at that.  All throughout her time in Granatum, she had explored multiple possible pathways and had really come to appreciate the nature surrounding her and its beauty that wasn’t easily found back in a big town.  The sounds had disturbed her the first few nights, but eventually she got used to the sounds of the Frogmen singing their kin to sleep, the Man-Eaters strange buzzing noise as they lured Land Squids towards them for dinner, and the lazy buzz from the Hornets, although they she never fell asleep without some sort of weapon near her.

  “I guess when you put it that way then got something good out of Granatum.” She frowned again.  “But I wish that there were fewer traps in Kalcazoth though; why is that, by the way?  What’s so valuable?”

  Rempo shrugged.  “I just figured that it was just defenses against thieves stupid enough to try and steal Mieli’s bookmark.  We can’t have anyone but you finding her, Tia.  We can’t be too careful.”

  “I suppose.” She said doubtfully.

  “What?  What did _you_ think all the traps were for?”

  “To keep monsters away, perhaps?”

  Rempo laughed.

  “Don’t laugh, I’m serious!  I’ve never seen stuff like this before, so I figured that those dwarves Duran were talking about set them up.  Or maybe they did it to keep people away from Lake Avernus!”

  Rempo finally stopped laughing and looked at her with mischief in his eyes.  “Really?  A stupid lake is worth all that trouble?  Really, Tia?  Really?”

  “Yes.” She said firmly.  All her weariness from the past week gone.  “Lake Avernus is the least explored area in all of Kaleila, meaning that there are possible flora and fauna to be discovered and there are many rumors of possible healing springs in the caverns beneath the lake.  Like the ones we’ve been sleeping in.”

  Remo’s grin grew wider.  “Do you really believe in all that Minotaurus crap?”

  Tia glared at him, but didn’t answer him.  Truthfully, she didn’t believe in much of it.  But she couldn’t tell Rempo that, he’d tease her otherwise.

  “I guess…it doesn’t really matter.” Tia finally said.  She was tired, sore, and still a bit sick from the day she was desperate enough to eat Frogman legs.  Rule number 1); Frogmen are fairly easy to kill, but they’re filled with disease, and it was only the grace of the gods that Tia only got a bad stomachache.

  “Yeah,” Rempo said smiling at her.  Thankfully he didn’t gloat about winning a verbal battle.  “So where should we head next then?”

  “I don’t know.” Tia shook her head.  “We’ve been through who knows how many parts of Kalcazoth Cave, and all we’ve seen is more traps.  I don’t know where else to look.  I just don’t know anymore.”

  Rempo looked at her curiously for a moment, and then he zoomed around the cave.  “Well, it’s always best to start at the beginning, so all we have to do is follow the clearest pathway.”  
  Tia sighed and shook her head.  “So, which way then?”

  Rempo gestured to the left.  “That way.  The last time we went to the right all we got was a bunch of water up our noses.”  
  “We?  Ours?  What are you talking about?  You fled into the Book!  I got wet, not you!”

  But he wasn’t listening.  Instead, he was already heading into the left cave entrance.  “C’mon, Tia!  We gotta hurry!”

  Rolling her eyes, she hurried after him and found herself back in the same cave she’d been in during her first exploration of Kalcazoth.  Unlike all the other caverns in Kalcazoth, this one had nothing but a raised ledge above it.  The fact that nothing was there (that she could see) to challenge her was the main reason she was always so hesitant to return to this specific cavern.

  After some urging, yelling, threatening, and eventually compromising, Rempo was able to get Tia to help him investigate the cavern more thoroughly than previously.  They eventually found a switch, which was activated by striking it.  The switch then set off various platforms, which Tia had a considerably difficult time using.

  “It’s too fast.” She informed Rempo.

  “You’re getting kind of chubby from all that Raptor meat,” Rempo pointed out.  “Consider this a diet routine.”

 Tia’s mood didn’t improve as they treaded farther on into the caverns and having to endure many of the tasks and tricks within.  “Rempo,” she said at last.  “Do these traps seem… different to you?”

  “No.  Why?  Do they seem that way to you?” he asked off-handedly.  Rempo had been in a much better mood after Tia finally started to let him use his abilities on the monsters, and honestly didn’t care much about the traps.

  “Yes.  They seem…oh, I don’t know, used I suppose.”  
  “Used?  You mean that somebody else might have set them off earlier?”

  “How else can you explain that pile of debris a few caverns ago?  Somebody unsettled it, that’s the only thing I can think of.”  
  “And if someone’s been here earlier, then we might be walking into a trap.” Rempo mused.  “Sweet!  Now we can have some kind of _actual_ challenge!”

  “No, that’s not what worries me.” Tia said in a distant voice.  She was trying to understand this puzzle, but none of it seemed to be matching up.

  “Then what is?” Rempo asked slightly put out she didn’t share his joy of defeating enemies.

  “What worries me is that _somebody reset the traps_.” She said.

  “Oh.” Rempo said.  He glanced behind his shoulder.  “Well, um, how about we, er, just get out of here?  There was that opening a bit back, right?  Let’s sleep under the stars tonight.”

  Tia agreed.  The caves were starting to make her nervous.  They finally exited the Kalcazoth Caves and were almost blinded by the brightness that was the sunset.  They had reached the Plateau, which any noble child or painter would tell you inspired more than any other place in Kaleila paintings, poetry, and music dedicated to its beauty.

  “If that’s so,” Rempo asked.  “Then why is no one comes here?”

  “Dwarves made their home near here about three decades ago.” Tia explained.  “Dwarves have never gotten along with humans and we’ve tried to avoid anywhere where they might have lived in or near.  Unfortunately that includes Granatum Plateau.”

  “What a grand world.” Rempo stated.  “I’m not impressed much with your people, Tia, but I will give your world this: the nature in it is just awesome.”


	10. Chapter 10

Rudurd guided Tia and Rempo farther along the plateau until they reached a connecting pathway to another plateau. On this plateau there were actual _caves_. Each one could've been a naturally made cave for all of what Tia knew, but she probably would've walked right past them if Rudurd hadn't taken her into one of them.

"Here is my home," Rudurd said guiding as they entered on of cave farther away from the others. Tia noted some slowly rotting wooden posts near the edges of the plateau. Were they RudRud's posts, used long ago to watch out for invaders? No, they were probably left over from before the Dwarves settled in, she corrected herself.

When Tia entered the cave she was surprised by just how large it is. Large enough for two beds –one of which was too wide for any human– a table, a bookcase, and a smaller man-made cave that she hoped led to a lavatory. A small Dwarvan boy noticed them coming in and ran to meet them.

"Dad!" he said jumping up and hugging Rudrud. "Who's this? Is this a human?"

"Yes." Rudrud replied gruffly. "And it can speak too."

"'It'? Did he really call you an ' _it_ '?" Rempo growled. "That Dwarf better watch that attitude."

"Rempo, be polite." Tia whispered.

"They're not!" despite obviously angry, he kept quiet. Well, mostly. It is Rempo after all.

The Dwarvan boy looked at Tia as if noticing her for the first time. He grinned. "Hi! I'm Gim. Nice to meet you! Are you from the town? I bet you are. What's it like? I bet you've got lots of stories to tell. How'd you get here? Are you an invader? One of those archeologists? A missionary priest? Could you tell me about the town? In fact, have you ever–"

"My name is Tia." She said when he paused for breath. "It is very nice to meet you, Gim. Are you Rudrud's son?"

He smiled at her and nodded. "Yep. That's my dad."

"Gim let her be." Rudrud said in a funny voice. "Help the others prepare supper."

"Alright dad." Gim said sighing. He went over to the bookcase and shouldered a bag and took some wood outside the caves entrance.

Tia risked a glance at Rudrud and noticed the smile on his face. It wasn't directed at anyone in particular though. He was smiling at the world. He was home and his son was with him.

'What a wonderful feeling, to feel the love of a father.' Tia thought.

Half wishing to be of some use, but knowing that guests should not insult their hosts by offering to help, she sat down on the edge of what could only be Gim's bed, she opened up the Book of Prophecy. Feeling self-conscious and rude finally made her ask if she could be of any help though.

Rudrud laughed. "No, Human child. Rudrud knows your ways. Rudrud knows that you think it's rude. But if you want to help, you can up clean cave." His eyes crinkled at the edges, and his continued laughter told her he was teasing her.

Thank goodness.

"Come." He said gently guiding her back out of the cave. "We must go visit the others."

"Others? You mean there are more?" she asked.

"Yes. Many Dwarves stay here." Rudrud said. "We have many tribes. Not always easy to get along, but Rudrud will drag the other tribes to glory whether they like it or not."

"Okay, maybe the Dwarf isn’t _so_ bad." Rempo admitted grudgingly.

Smiling, Tia closed the Book and returned it to its usual place in her satchel and followed him. "Why did we come here then, er, Chief Rudrud if we were just going to leave?"

"A good home to sleep at should be the first thing to boast about." He said simply. Something in his voice told her he this was a common saying to his people.

As they left the cave Rudrud explained some things to the young girl. "Child, you must stay silent in front of the other Dwarves. Rudrud is… _kind_ compared to other."

Tia looked at Rempo for a moment and he seemed to be thinking the same thing she was. Instead of voicing it however, she asked another question. "Why did Gim need to leave?"

"Customary for children and women to make the food when a feast is to be made."

Children and women! Tia had never seen or heard of a female Dwarf before. Actually, all she ever heard about Dwarves was that they were gruff, gold-loving, alcoholic, long-bearded Elf and Human haters. This could be a very interesting night. The two walked onto a different part of the plateau, where they were greeted by the sight of perhaps hundreds of Dwarves. Each one they passed would come up and touch Rudrud's shoulder or clasp his forearm and nod, only to scowl down at Tia.

"Stay with Gim, Human." Rudrud said gruffly. "Rudrud have more important things to do than watch a Human."

For the rest of the night, Tia had discovered the truths and the lies about the Dwarf tales she knew so well back in Kaleila. There were games being played with sticks and stones, food was constantly being passed around and sent to different firesides, dance were going on, the beat from the drums never seemed to die down, nor did the laughter and noise. As the stars came out in the sky and the last colours from the sun vanished, the women and the children began cleaning up and the Chiefs of the different tribes got together to plan and to discuss and to argue. Tia was allowed to help with the cleanup, which she appreciated.

"Ugh, if we're staying here tonight, fine. But I'm gonna sleep now." Rempo grumbled before re-entering the Book of Prophecy.

"Goodnight." Was her only reply. Waiting until she was sure he wasn't coming out she turned to Gim, who was cleaning near her. "Gim?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you…by any chance…noticed that boy?"

"You mean the one with horns that you talk to?"

"Yes!"  
Gim was quiet for a moment, and then lowered his voice. "Yeah, but I tried not’ta bring attention to him, as if he didn't all on his own. Dwarves can sometimes see creatures that come to our world from the Hunting Ground."

"The 'Hunting Ground'?” she had never heard of such a place before.  “Where is that?"

"I think that's where you go when you die.” the boy said bluntly.  “It's a lot like here except the whole being dead part.  I hear the weather’s nicer too, with lotsa food.  All Dwarves go there when we die. You're friend, the boy, looked and acted a lot like one of our greatest heroes, Red Horns."

"Too bad he’s still not here.  I bet he’d love to hear that." Despite this, she gave what he said serious thought. Dwarvan customs were so different from her own, she realized; how easy it must be to war with another over where to go to die. "If that's the case, then why does Rudrud not like him?"

"He smells funny." Gim wrinkled his nose. "No matter who he is –hero or no hero–  he still smells lika demon of death. Plus, Dad might not want to get any of the other Dwarf Chiefs angry or scared 'bout it 'cause a lot of 'em might think that he's a demon that eats Dwarves.” Gim paused for a moment before adding, “and Humans. You might wanna be careful ‘round him."

"I can see why he ignored him then. But at least he can boast about getting into an argument with a demon and beat it."

Gim laughed but quickly quieted down. "We're almost done here. Let's go over to that fire."

"Why?"

"So we can listen to the Chiefs talk of course!"

"Oh of course." She said wearily. They finished up their work of the cleaning and sat at the fire pit, hidden in the shadows. Surrounding Rudrud were other Dwarvan men, each one almost if not equal to him in size and strength and they were all talking quickly.

"Dad's the Dwarvan chief," Gim explained to her. "He went into the Great Arber Mountain Range to talk to the Northern Dwarves to see if they'd make an alliance." Gim stared into the fire. "Things must be getting really bad if dad went to talk to them."

Tia glanced at a page in the Book. Great Arber was the Mountain Range for the Dwarves.

"Dad said something really big is coming," Gim continued in a hushed whisper. "All these Dwarves are chieftains that owe Dad tribute in some shape or form. I don't really care about it, but a lot of 'em thought that you were the thing Dad's worried about."

"Me?" Tia asked. Gim was about to respond, but the older Dwarves began to talk.

"Really, Rudrud," an oily bearded Dwarf said in an almost condescending tone. "If you're being scared of a little _Human_ you should not get us involved. Crum and me have more important things to do than chase your fantasies"  
Rudrud said nothing.

"And why let the thing live?" another Dwarf with yellow tattoos demanded. "It nothing but a mutant! It can contaminate us all! We need kill it now and good while still dumb!"

"Nah," a darker skinned one said sounding bored. "Vhen da ting sleep, den ve kill it. Vhy kill now? Eazier at night. Jus' drinks now, GudGudrud, den ve kill good."

Tia felt her hands grow cold. Kill her? For what, being a Human? She put her hand in her satchel and touched the Book. Rempo had gone back into his bookmark in the Book during the feast, but not without warning her to be careful of the Dwarves. He wasn't wrong.

"No! It must be killed _now_!" the yellow Dwarf insisted. "It stay here, more come for it. It go, it come back wit more. We no let thing live, we say it monster and we kill in defense. It good plan." He went to grab his spear, dyed brown with dried blood.

Faster than humanely possible, Rudrud had pulled out his mallet and struck the Dwarf on the head. Grabbing her hand, Gim lead Tia quickly away back the way Tia and Rudrud had come and back into their home before any of the other Dwarves could even react.

Tia, gasping, looked over at Gim.

"W-what…what just happened, Gim?"

"Th-the other…Dwarves that is, wanted to kill you. Dad wouldn't let that happen." Gim glanced out the cave. "We should just try and sleep. They'll be talking politics all night at this rate."  
She stared at him at a loss for words. "Sure, why not? Sleep sounds good. Especially on a real bed."  
"Tia?"

"Yes, Gim?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

She turned and stared at the Dwarvan boy before giving him a warm smile and saying, "Of course you can, Gim."

Rudrud was impressed despite of himself. The human girl had awoken even before he had to practice his Flying Hammer technique, and it seemed she had mastered it at a breakneck speed. Instead of being angry or suspicious, however, he found himself amused.

"Bravo," he applauded. "You have learned well.

She jumped at his voice and blushed at his praise. Did she not think someone would come?

"Th-thank you, Rudrud." She said. "Forgive me for not using honorifics. I'm afraid I've become too comfortable here."

"It is fine; Rudrud will accept it if you accept him doing the same."

She smiled. "You have a deal. I'll have to leave soon though. Today, actually."

He nodded. Last night could've gone smoother. "Gim and Rudrud will give you some food for your long trip."

She seemed surprised. "You know I'm leaving?"

"Yes. You hold the Book of the Hunting Ground, yes?"

She looked confused before pulling out the Book. "You mean this? I was told it's the Book of Prophecy."

"To- _ma_ to, to- _mah_ to, Tia. No matter what people call it, it's still does the same thing" The red Demon said. Rudrud agreed, but he would die before admitting it. Rudrud handed her a wrapped package of food. It had seemed meager when he was preparing it, but now that he saw it in the Humans hands he realised how much there was by her standards.

"You'll have to be prepared. A great beast lurks deep in there."

"A beast?" the red Demon inquired.

Rudrud nodded. "A beast made up of an assortment of other animals. All their strengths, but none of their weaknesses."

"No surprise, I suppose." The Demon said bitterly. "With all the Chaos spreading around, that is."

"Watch yourself Human and always stay strong. Train your body and mind, and you'll overcome any trial! This Rudrud can promise." He nodded and left her with her thoughts and her Demon. Under his breath he added, "Gustav was right. We will need to discuss it further sooner."

Tia looked over at Rempo. "So? What do you say?"

"I say we'll eat like kings for a week with this food." He said looking at the package of food.

"But you don't eat."

"Details! C'mon, let's go."

"Oh, Great Gods!" Tia shouted. She had not paid attention to where her foot landed for only a moment and the next thing she knew was that she was hanging for dear life onto her hammer's handle. "Rempo!"

"Okay, okay. So I'm bad at directions. What do you want me to do?"

" _Help!_ "

"I found some rope! Damn, hold on I've got it." He grabbed the rope with his teeth and tossed it to her.

Tia scrambled up and held onto the trunk of the giant tree, trembling. "I _hate_ this place."

"Aw, why not?" Rempo asked as he examined the rope. "It's dark, gloomy, ghosts and bats a meter tall want to kill us, there's dozens of different kinds of poisons, hornets, and we can't see the ground! What's not to like? Hey, how old do you think this rope is? About seven years old?"

She couldn't believe him. Who cared how old a rope was? More importantly, why was someone climbing _down_ the rope to begin with?

"So," he said, bored with the rope. "Do you want to go kill the mix-'n'-match monster now or later?"

"Later, please."

"How did I know?"

She glared at him. "I'm sorry that this is boring to you, Rempo, but I'm a little bit nervous okay? A giant beast that can scare the _Dwarves_ of all people isn't exactly a pick me up."

"Don't worry, kid." he was reassuringly. "I get that you're nervous but remember: _You_ have the Book. _You_ can cause miracles. And _you_ have more power than any kind of chaos out there. That monster won't even know what hit him."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. Now, get some sleep."

 


End file.
